Community Group Projects Solicitors
Working with communities to help you reach your goals
Community landownership can have an empowering effect, playing a crucial role in helping to energise and grow rural communities.
Successful community group projects (be it landownership or another project) can make a significant contribution to local employment and the wider local economy, spreading wealth and confidence through the community and its supply chain.
Our team has been at the heart of some of the most exciting community group developments and projects in recent years.
With offices in Inverness, Lerwick and Thurso, as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow, we are ideally positioned to work with communities across Scotland, making it easy to arrange face-to-face meetings between community groups and our team.
We have community projects at our heart, providing advice to more than 25 community groups on a full spectrum of legal issues including: corporate structures and charitable status; governance; Community Right to Buy; and wind, hydro, biomass and housing projects
Key contacts - get in touch
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Partner
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Key services
Our key services for community projects include:
- Advice on Structures
- Advice on Constitution
- Incorporation Services
- Charity Law
- State Aid
- Commercial Contracts
- Finance
- Community Ownership
- Community Renewables
Our dedicated community projects team provides a full service to community groups undertaking a wide range of projects across Scotland. We have particular specialist knowledge in the areas listed below.
In addition to our core team, we are able to call on the strength and depth of specialists from across the firm to guide you through your project.
The community projects and bodies with which we are involved range from small, grass roots organisations to large corporate entities with substantial turnover and complex requirements.
This is a fast-moving, every changing area and we are seeing significant cross-over between the community, charity and renewable energy sectors. We have, for example, experience of advising community-based social enterprise vehicles.
Our advice comes with a full understanding of the wider strategic, political and economic issues that affect our clients’ particular requirements. As one of Scotland’s leading third sector practices, as well as community groups, we also work with charities, voluntary organisations, and housing associations.
Key services include:
- Advice on corporate structures
- Advice on constitution
- Incorporation services
- Charity law
- State Aid
- Commercial contracts
- Finance
- Community ownership
- Community renewables
Our team has specialist knowledge of this developing sector and the potential impact the Land Reform legislation could and has already had on this sector.
We act for a number of community landowners and also advise a number of other aspiring community landowners. We understand the challenges, aspirations and opportunities that community landownership can bring.
We have acted on a number of buy-outs both outwith the terms of the legislation and also utilising the strict legislation provisions of the Community Right to Buy (CRtB), such as acting for Sunart Community Company in what was the smallest extent purchased under the CRtB. Whilst the purchase was small in extent, it was a valuable asset to the Community.
We have acted in purchases of all types and sizes, including acting for Carloway Estate Trust in the purchase of a 13,000 acres crofting estates, utilising the provisions of the CRTB for Coigach Community Development Company and many more community purchases.
Key services include:
- Land reform
- Community Right to Buy
- Land Fund applications
- Purchases from public bodies
- Forestry
- Rural property
- Crofting
Renewable energy projects are a key factor in creating confident, resilient and independent communities.
We have particular expertise in helping communities to deliver their own renewable energy projects.
Backed up by one of Scotland’s leading teams of energy lawyers, we have expertise in all types of renewable project including wind, solar and hydro.
We have a strong relationship with community groups in relation to their renewable developments and, through our provision of training and legal helpline to members of Community Energy Scotland (CES), have sought to ensure that we are as accessible as possible.
One member of our team, Calum MacLeod, has spent considerable time with CES on its own community renewables projects and gained a much wider understanding of and exposure to the community renewables sector than most lawyers are able to gain.
We are also proud to have organised and hosted the annual Scottish Highland Renewable Energy Conference (SHREC) since 2010, at which community renewables has always been a focus.
Key services include:
- Option and lease agreements
- Cable agreements
- Joint venture agreements
- Shared ownership projects
- Financing of renewables
- Renewables on croftland
- Planning law
Work examples
Coigach Community Development Company
Over the past few years the Coigach community has made great strides in developing community-owned business opportunities and Harper Macleod was a vital part of the team every step of the way. HM have advised on our Right to Buy, and two community renewables projects (one wind and one hydro) as well as advising on the structure of the development company.
Community wind farm
We acted for the developers of a 2.5MW community wind farm. The three-turbine project received a total of more than £8m in funding from the public sector as well as a major high street lender. The project also received assistance from the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme, which provides advice and support to rural communities on renewables.
Community hydro scheme on croftland
We acted for Sunart Community Renewables in the development of Community Hydro Scheme on croftland in the Scottish Highlands. The first phase of this project involved a Community Right to Buy, which was the smallest purchase under the terms of the Land Reform Act but it was particularly important to the community group. The project also involved a purchase from the site from a local crofter for a turbine house.
It also required agreements with the landlord of the common grazings and crofting agreements with all of the crofters who had rights in the common grazings for the purposes of access and laying a pipe. The Sunart community raised funded their project largely by way of a bespoke Community Share offer, but we also advised them in achieving financial close for additional funding with another two lenders.
Contact us
Call us for free on 0330 159 5555 or complete our online form below for legal advice or to arrange a call back.