HIE agus Gàidhlig.
Gaelic
Community assets
Increasing the role of communities in the ownership and management of land and assets
Helping you lead social and economic change
Communities in the Highlands and Islands have a long history of doing things for themselves. They have a huge amount of talent, energy and passion for creating development opportunities for themselves. We work to empower and enable local people to take control of their own futures.
Through owning and managing land, property and other assets, communities can generate income to advance their own development, creating jobs, providing vital services, building and improving houses, and much more.
Over 534,000 acres (216,102 hectares) of land across the Highlands and Islands are now owned and/or managed by local communities including large estates, forests, shops, petrol stations, industrial units and even lighthouses. Asset-driven projects transform entire communities, and lead to long-term growth.
Through our partnership with the National Lottery Community Fund, we deliver the Scottish Land Fund which covers the whole of Scotland.
Are you interested in managing or owning an asset?
There are a variety of ways your community can be involved in running or owning an asset. Find out more in our step by step guides.
Ten steps to community ownership
What do you need to get a community development project off the ground?
Get useful and practical advice in our toolkit. Each of our ten steps contains useful tools and resources to help you along your journey.
Scottish Land Fund
This is a Scottish Government funded programme delivered in partnership by HIE and the National Lottery Community Fund.
Scottish Land Fund runs until March 2021 and has an annual budget of £10 million.
Legislation and community opportunities
We can help you benefit from the rights you have within the Community Empowerment Act. This includes requests to be part of decision-making processes that seek to improve public services and requests to use, lease or purchase public assets.
100 years of community land ownership
Watch 'Our Land - Building a Future' as it traces the history of the globally recognised community land ownership movement in our region.
Advice webinars
We have a collection of webinars offering advice on a variety of asset ownership subjects.
Browse our advice webinars on YouTube playlist
Our region's building blocks
We have many unique aspects to life here. We can help communities benefit from them.
