The Community Action Group have registered an Expression of Interest in purchasing The White Horse.

West Oxfordshire District Council have triggered our request for a six month moratorium and our Expression of Interest to make a bid for The White Horse on behalf of the community.

We’re up and running.

What does all this mean? Here are few extracts from WODC guidance notes

If a qualifying community interest group does submit a written request for the group to be treated as a potential bidder for the asset, the Council must then oversee a 6 month “full moratorium” period where the sale is further delayed. This delayed sale allows time for the community to develop its bid to the asset owner.

The relevant moratorium comes to an end after either: 6 weeks in cases where there has been no community interest; or the full 6 months in cases where a community interest group has expressed interest in being treated as a potential bidder. At the end of the moratorium that is relevant in a particular case, there follows a period that is referred to as the protected period. The protected period is a period of 18 months (running from the original date the owner notified the local authority of an intention to sell). Following the end of the relevant moratorium period and during the remainder of the protected period, the owner is free to sell their property to whomever they choose without further delay.

The start date for all three periods (the interim moratorium; full moratorium; and protected period) is the date the Council receives notification from the owner of the intention to dispose of the property.

Once the protected period ends, if the disposal has not been concluded the process re- starts and the notification and moratorium procedures must again be followed.

The moratorium (delayed sale of a listed asset) is enforced by the restriction placed with HM Land Registry and the entry on the local land charges register. When a listed asset is disposed of, and a new owner applies to HM Land Registry to register the change of ownership, the new owner will need to provide the Land Registry with a certificate from a conveyancer that the disposal did not contravene the moratorium requirements set out in the Localism Act.

For full copy of WODC guidance notes see https://whitehorsestonesfield.com/index.php/our-story/