Specification

Asset of community value

4 March 2025

Abstract

This specification defines the contents and format of data which a relevant planning authority or other party may use to provide information about one or more Assets of community value.

Status of this specification

Warning This is working copy of a specification under development. It is inappropriate to cite this draft document as anything other than a work in progress.

This is a draft specification, following the standards for planning data process [design-process]. The contents of this specification are currently under development, and liable to change based on feedback.

This document places no obligations on any party to provide data in conformance to this specification.

A future version of this specification may be formally published on GOV.UK, and cited as one of a number of official data standards for the provision of planning data under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 [LURA] or other legislation.

This technical specification is accompanied by guidance, examples and other tools which provide feedback to organisations creating data to this specification.

Comments and feedback on this specification may be provided on the GitHub discussion or sent to digitalland@communities.gov.uk.

Conformance

As well as sections marked as non-normative, all authoring guidelines, diagrams, examples, and notes in this specification are non-normative. Everything else in this specification is normative.

The key words MAY, MUST, NOT, and SHOULD in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals [RFC8174] as shown here.

Datasets and fields

This section is non-normative

An index of the datasets and fields defined by this specification.

Asset of community value
Field Requirement Datatype
reference reference
name string
address-text string
description string
point point
geometry geometry
organisation reference
nomination-date datetime
nominating-group string
decision string
decision-date datetime
expiry-date datetime
notification-to-sell-date datetime
interested-group string
protected-period-start-date datetime
notes text
entry-date datetime
start-date datetime
end-date datetime

Dataset details

Asset of community value

The Asset of community value dataset contains Buildings or pieces of land that are used for the social wellbeing and interests of the local community.

The Asset of community value dataset contain at least one entry for each Asset of community value for which the data provider is the responsible authority.

Reference

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a reference field value.

The Asset of community value reference field MUST be a reference value.

A unique code for this asset of community value, for example `A-CV-1`.

Name

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a name field value.

The Asset of community value name field MUST be a string value.

A name for the asset of community value, for example, Magdala Public House.

Address text

Address as a single line of text, separated by commas.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain an address-text field value.

The Asset of community value address-text field MUST be a string value.

An address for the asset.

Description

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a description field value.

The Asset of community value description field MUST be a string value.

A description of the asset of community value.

Point

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a point field value.

The Asset of community value point field MUST be a point value.

Coordinates, in WGS84, of the asset.

Geometry

A polygon or multipolygon boundary.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a geometry field value.

The Asset of community value geometry field MUST be a geometry value.

If available, a boundary for the asset in WKT format.

Organisation

Department, agency, body, company, group, or association of people.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain an organisation field value.

The Asset of community value organisation field MUST be a reference value.

A code for the authority whose register it is on, e.g. local-authority:CMD.

Nomination date

The date the asset was nominated for the authority to consider if it should be on the community asset register.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a nomination-date field value.

The Asset of community value nomination-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date the asset was nominated to go on the register.

Nominating group

The group that nominated the asset to be added to the community asset register.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a nominating-group field value.

The Asset of community value nominating-group field MUST be a string value.

The group who nominated the asset, for example, Friends of the Magdala.

Decision

The decision made.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a decision field value.

The Asset of community value decision field MUST be a string value.

The decision whether successful or unsuccessful.

Decision date

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a decision-date field value.

The Asset of community value decision-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date the decision was published, in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.

Expiry date

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain an expiry-date field value.

The Asset of community value expiry-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date the listing on the register expires, usually 5 years after the decision date, for example 2029-12-01.

Notification to sell date

The date the authority were notified of the intention to sell the asset.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a notification-to-sell-date field value.

The Asset of community value notification-to-sell-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date the owner informs the authority of their wish to sell the asset.

Interested group

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain an interested-group field value.

The Asset of community value interested-group field MUST be a string value.

The group that has registered an interest, triggering the moratorim period.

Protected period start date

The date the protection period for an asset starts. Usually lasts 18 months from this date..

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a protected-period-start-date field value.

The Asset of community value protected-period-start-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date the protection period starts. It will last 18 months from this date..

Notes

Notes and commentary about how this data was made or may be interpreted.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a notes field value.

The Asset of community value notes field MUST be a text value.

Optional notes.

Entry date

Entry date of the data.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain an entry-date field value.

The Asset of community value entry-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date this record was created.

Start date

Date the entity became active or in force.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain a start-date field value.

The Asset of community value start-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date the asset was nominated.

End date

Date from which the entity is not longer active or in force.

Each Asset of community value entry MAY contain an end-date field value.

The Asset of community value end-date field MUST be a datetime value.

The date this assets was removed from the asset register.

Source documentation

The source documentation is a web page where the user should go to confirm the validity of information provided in the data.

The source documentation SHOULD be a web page accessible as [HTML] from a public URL.

Finding the information on the organisation's official website helps users check the information in the data. It increases the trust the user may place in the origin of the data, and that it is more likely to be sustained.

The source documentation SHOULD be on the offical website for the organisation.

A Local Authority or other public body should put the documentation page under their .gov.uk domain.

The source documentation MAY either contain the endpoint documentation, or link to one or more separate endpoint documentation pages.

Endpoint documentation

The endpoint documentation is a web page where a user can find a link to where they can download the data (the endpoint), along with other information relevant to a data user, such as the date the data was last updated. Every endpoint needs to be findable via a link on the source documentation page, and the endpoint documentation can be on the source page, on a separate documentation point for each endpoint, or a combination thereof.

The documentation for an endpoint SHOULD be accessible as [HTML] from a public URL.

The endpoint documentation URL SHOULD have the same URL as the endpoint documentation page.

The endpoint documentation URL MAY have the same URL as the source documentation page.

The endpoint documentation include a hyperlink to one or more endpoints for Asset of community value data.

The endpoint documentation page SHOULD include a clear licence for reusing the data.

The data SHOULD be published as [crown-copyright] under [OGL3].

This data is © Crown copyright and available under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The endpoint documentation page SHOULD include any further attribution a user of the data needs to provide if they copy, publish, distribute or otherwise retransmit the data.

Datatypes

Reference

The reference MAY be used to refer to the entity by other data.

A reference value MUST be either a [CURIE] or the reference part of a [CURIE] identifier.

A reference SHOULD be persistent. A reference SHOULD be used by the data provider to identify the same entity in the future.

A reference SHOULD NOT be used to refer to a different entity in the future.

Where a reference has been used to refer to two different entities, add a year or other text to disambiguate the references, for example use 'CA01' and 'CA01/2022' rather than just 'CA01' for two different conservation areas.

A reference SHOULD be short and meaningful to a user.

Datetime

Dates MUST conform to [ISO8601] following the [Open Standards for government guidance [formatting-dates-and-times-in-data].

A date value SHOULD be blank if it is unknown.

The date MAY just contain the year 'YYYY' if only the year is known, or 'YYYY-MM' if only the year and month is known.

Geometry

A geometry field MAY be eiher a single POLYGON or MULTIPOLYGON value.

When using Comma Separated Value (CSV), the geometry SHOULD be encoded as Well Known Text [WKT].

All points SHOULD be either in the [WGS84] (EPSG::4326) or [ETRS89] (EPSG::4258) coordinate reference system following the [Open Standards for government] guidance [exchange-of-location-point].

Boundaries provided by this dataset are intended to be used as an index. Positions calculated by the WGS84 and ETRS89 systems can currently deviate by half a metre for points within England. Survey data should be used where more precision is needed.

Coordinate values SHOULD be 6 or fewer decimal places.

Integer

A value in the integer values MUST conform to the integer datatype as defined by [tabular-metadata].

Text

All text values SHOULD be compatible with [govspeak-markdown].

All text values MUST be encoded in UTF-8 [RFC3629] following the [Open Standards for government] guidance [encoding-characters].

URL

All URL values MUST conform to [RFC3986].

For the purposes of this specification, the terms URL, URI and IRI are synonymous as set out in [URL-interoperability]

String

All string values MUST be encoded in UTF-8 [RFC3629] following the [Open Standards for government] guidance [encoding-characters].

Historical data

Removing historical data can reduce the trust a user places in the quality of the data. There are also many uses for historical documents, data and material information in planning, such as when developing an older property, processing an appeal, and monitoring the delivery of housing on older brownfield land, and when collecting evidence for plan-making.

Entries SHOULD NOT be changed or removed from the data except to correct a mistake, or for the purposes of redacting personal or otherwise sensitive information.

An entity SHOULD be updated by adding another entry to the data with the same reference and a newer entry-date.

Entries SHOULD be ordered within a dataset by the entry-date value, with older entries appearing before later entries.

The end-date field SHOULD be used to indicate when an entity is no longer applicable.

Data file formats

Data MUST be provided in at least one of the following file formats:

The preferred format for geospatial data is GeoJSON.

Tabular data SHOULD be provided as (CSV) [RFC4180] following the [Open Standards for government] guidance [tabular-data-standard].

Field names

The case and punctuation used in field names is insignificant, meaning 'StartDate', 'Start Date' 'START_DATE' and 'start.date', are all valid ways of naming the 'start-date' field.

A field name SHOULD be treated as being case insensitive.

A non-alphanumeric character in a field name SHOULD be ignored.

Evolution

This specification is expected to evolve through compatible evolution:
  1. Data may contain additional fields in the future. Processors must ignore any fields they aren't expecting.
  2. Fields in this specification will be deprecated in a future version, rather than being removed.
  3. Future versions of this specification MUST NOT significantly change the meaning of any of the fields in this version of the specification.

A sending processor conforming to this specification MAY include unspecified fields and values.

A receiving processor conforming to this specification MUST ignore any unspecified fields and their values.

Extensibility

The approach for evolution enables processors to extend the specification by including fields and data for their own purposes.

A processor SHOULD NOT add fields likely to be used in a future version of this specification for different purposes.

Endpoint

The endpoint is the URL for where data in a format defined by this specification may be downloaded. The Other patterns for collecting data are under consideration, including feeds for large datasets which change frequently.

Your data must be on a URL the public can access. We collect the latest data from there every day. We call this the ‘endpoint URL’.

Endpoints typically fall into 1 of the following 2 categories:

  • a file hosted on your web server — these will usually be URLs which end in something like .json or .csv
  • an API — these are usually hosted by your GIS (Geographic Information System) software or open data platform

Whenever your data changes, update it in the endpoint URL. Your endpoint URL should remain the same, do not change it when you make updates.

The endpoint MUST serve data conforming to this specification.

The endpoint MUST be accessible via HTTPS.

The data MUST be publicly accessible without authentication or authorisation.

Security and privacy considerations

There is a risk of people's names or other personally identifiable information appearing in the data, in particular notes, description and other text fields. It is the responsibility of the data provider to review and redact such information before publication.

The [OGL3] licence does not cover personal data in the Information.

The data MUST NOT contain any personal or sensitive information, unless explicitly required by this specification, or legislation.

Colophon

This document is © Crown Copyright and available under the Open Government Licence version 3 licence.

References

Normative references

[RFC2119]
Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels. IETF Best Current Practice. https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119
[RFC8174]
Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in [RFC2119] Key Words. IETF Best Current Practice. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8174
[RFC3629]
UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646. IETF Internet Standard. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3629
[RFC4180]
Common Format and MIME Type for Comma-Separated Values (CSV) Files. IETF Informational. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4180
[RFC7946]
The GeoJSON Format. Proposed Standard. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7946
[RFC3339]
Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps. IETF Proposed Standard. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3339
[RFC3986]
IETF Standard. Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3986
[URI-Fragment]
Section 3.5 of [RFC3986] Fragment Identifier of a URI https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3986#section-3.5
[tabular-metadata]
Metadata Vocabulary for Tabular Data. W3C Recommendation. https://www.w3.org/TR/2015/REC-tabular-metadata-20151217/
[tabular-data-model]
Model for Tabular Data and Metadata on the Web. W3C Recommendation. https://www.w3.org/TR/2015/REC-tabular-data-model-20151217
[CURIE]
CURIE Syntax 1.0 A syntax for expressing Compact URIs. W3C Working Group Note. https://www.w3.org/TR/2010/NOTE-curie-20101216/
[GML]
Geography Markup Language (GML). Open Geospatial Consortium standard (ISO 19136-1:2020). https://www.ogc.org/standards/gml
[KML]
OGC KML 2.3. Open Geospatial Consortium standard (12-007r2). http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/kml/2.3
[Geopackage]
OGC Geopackage 1,4 Open Geospatial Consortium standard (12-128r19). http://www.opengis.net/doc/IS/geopackage/1.4
[WGS84]
National Imagery and Mapping Agency, "Department of Defense World Geodetic System 1984: Its Definition and Relationships with Local Geodetic Systems", Third Edition, 1984. The code for this standard in the European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) Registry is [EPSG::4326]. https://nsgreg.nga.mil/doc/view?i=4085
[ETRS89]
The European Terrestrial Reference System 89 (ETRS89) The code for this standard in the European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) Registry is [EPSG::4258]. http://etrs89.ensg.ign.fr/
[WKT]
OGC Well-known text (WKT) as defined by ISO/IEC 13249-3:2016. https://www.iso.org/standard/60343.html
[ISO8601]
Data elements and interchange formats – Information interchange – Representation of dates and times", ISO 8601:1988(E), International Organization for Standardization, June, 1988.
[OGL3]
Open Government Licence for public sector information. Version 3. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
[crown-copyright]
Crown copyright. Section 163 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as works made by officers or servants of the Crown in the course of their duties. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/re-using-public-sector-information/uk-government-licensing-framework/crown-copyright/

Informative references

[LURA]
Levelling-up and Regeneration Act. Originated in the House of Commons, Session 2022-23. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/55/enacted
[process]
Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government planning data standards design process (service under development). https://design.planning.data.gov.uk
[GSS]
Office for National Statistics, Geography Coding and Naming Policy for Official Statistics Version 2.0, July 2025 https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/documents/5a050dcaac8049dc9dc0aa7de0943378/about
[govspeak-markdown]
How to publish on GOV.UK: Govspeak Markdown. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-publish-on-gov-uk/markdown
[open-standards-for-government]
Government Digital Service and Central Digital and Data Office. Open standards for government
[encoding-characters]
Encoding characters Open Standards for Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/cross-platform-character-encoding-profile
[persistent-resolvable-identifiers]
Persistent resolvable identifiers. Open Standards for Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/persistent-resolvable-identifiers
[formatting-dates-and-times-in-data]
Formatting dates and times in data. Open Standards for Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/date-times-and-time-stamps-standard
[publishing-government-documents]
Publishing government documents. Open Standards for Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/viewing-government-documents
[exchange-of-location-point]
Exchange of location point. Open Standards for Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/exchange-of-location-point
[tabular-data-standard]
Tabular data standard. Open Standards for Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recommended-open-standards-for-government/tabular-data-standard
[using-csv]
Using CSV file format. Central Digital and Data Office guidance. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-csv-file-format
[csv-on-the-web]
CSV on the Web: A Primer. W3C Working Group Note. https://www.w3.org/TR/tabular-data-primer/
[EPSG::4326]
World Geodetic System 1984 [WGS84] EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset. https://epsg.io/4326
[EPSG::4258]
The European Terrestrial Reference System 89 [ETRS89] EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset. https://epsg.io/4326
[GDAL]
GDAL. Open Source Geospatial Foundation. https://gdal.org/
[TAB]
MapInfo TAB format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MapInfo_TAB_format
[Shapefile]
ESRI Shapefile format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile
[ZIP]
ZIP format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_(file_format)
[HTML]
WHATWG HTML. Living Standard. https://html.spec.whatwg.org/
[URL-interoperability]
WHATWG URL. Living Standard. Interoperability of URL with URI and IRI values. https://url.spec.whatwg.org/