Private space, public good – the private sector and social infrastructure

Many of the spaces we typically think of as social infrastructure – such as libraries and community centres – have traditionally been owned and managed by the public sector. However, these spaces have suffered due to the financial constraints of local government and a lack of policy coordination to secure community spaces. In some cases, community businesses have effectively taken on the running of these spaces to preserve their value to local people. But beyond publicly owned assets, buildings and spaces owned by the private sector are also contributing to our social infrastructure, and these present a further opportunity for local people to shape more spaces in their area for community benefit.  

Our new report with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy examines how working with the private sector can help communities unlock spaces for social connection. 

Making space for communities 

This report builds on previous research with the Bennett Institute, British Academy and Institute for Community Studies. The report we published together in 2023 found that some spaces owned by the private sector, like supermarkets, may unintentionally provide space for us to connect with others. 

In a recent blog, we explored why the private sector might be motivated to create social infrastructure. Some private asset owners want to deliver more social impact in their spaces. Others are recognising the economic returns from having vibrant and well used spaces and are working to replicate this with communities.  

In the course of our research, we have heard from asset owners and developers that working with community organisations to shape their spaces means that they continue to be lively and well used over time, generating a return on the private sector’s investment. These social spaces can also increase footfall, and the time people spend in other local businesses, meaning the local economy benefits too. 

We have also heard that working with community groups provides a good exit for developers and housebuilders working on regeneration projects or new town developments. This presents an opportunity for long-term community management and even ownership of assets built by the private sector, where public sector ‘adoption’ is no longer economically viable. This could be an answer for a new government looking to meet housing supply needs. 

Working together 

The report explores how partnership with the private sector can benefit community businesses. It can unlock access to underutilised and vacant spaces – often in desirable locations like the high street. And financially it can be mutually beneficial – each unlocking finance for the other.

However, for these partnerships to succeed, communities need to be able to access spaces on terms that work for them. Sometimes this may be social value or peppercorn rent, or long term leases that enable a genuine sense of local ownership and control of a space. 

The report highlights the role of local and central government in facilitating this use of privately owned spaces. It reiterates their role in ensuring a strategic approach to social infrastructure more generally. We found that some local authorities are already bringing community groups on board for conversations about what assets new developments and regeneration projects need, and how these should be run. Providing social infrastructure is vital to creating healthy and prosperous places, and levers like neighbourhood planning and Section 106 agreements can help cement this role for communities in directing how these social spaces are provided. 

Beyond ensuring a voice for communities in planning these spaces, the report highlights the inconsistency between the government’s advice to councils on asset disposal and its investment in community ownership – through the Community Ownership Fund and the commitment to introduce a Community Right to Buy as part of the English Devolution Bill, announced at the King’s Speech. Our report makes recommendations to both local and national government on how to support community asset ownership – including ensuring local authorities have a strong community asset transfer strategy, and that central government backs up the new power for communities with the right resources and support. 

Privately owned space is by no means a replacement for the community spaces owned by the public sector, or the increasing number of valued local assets being brought into community ownership by community businesses. But these spaces can add to the richness of our social infrastructure and increase the amount of spaces available to communities as well as investment in them. To realise this value, communities, their local authorities, and the private sector have to work together to shape private spaces for public good.