Making finance work for community assets

Guest author: Bob Thust, Hastings Commons / PG Collective

Finance in community asset work isn’t just about keeping the books. It’s about making decisions, building resilience, and keeping the mission alive for the long haul.

I was recently invited to participate in a technical huddle with the brilliant community innovators on Footwork’s People and Place programme. In various ways they’re working to steward land and buildings, in response to a local challenge or social injustice. Together, we explored the practicalities and risks of managing money when developing and running community-led spaces.

The conversation ranged from small details (service changes, utility tracking) to big-picture strategy (structuring your organisation, buying property, setting rents).

Below I briefly share some of the key things to consider, based on my experience at Hastings Commons and with community organisations through PG Collective.

Remember that ultimately your financial approach, risks and opportunities are tailored to your place, your building(s), your use(s) of space and social / environmental goals – so don’t take this as a one-size-fits-all advice.

Contents:

1. Know your phase – development vs. management

2. Getting the price right

3. Plan for change (and budget for it)

4. Track everything in one place

5. Balance your uses (and your books)

6. Keep a close eye on cash flow

7. Get your information flow right too

8. Work as a team

Image: People and Place innovators visit Hastings Commons' Observer Building in Summer 2025.

Step 1: Know your phase – development vs. management

When you’re doing financial planning, one of the most important things is recognising where you are in the journey. Development and management are entirely different beasts. Development can be long, messy, and full of funders, surveys, and negotiations. Management is about people, purpose, and the daily rhythm of running the space. Confusing the two can lead to financial headaches before you’ve even started.

Step 2: Getting the price right

It won’t surprise you to hear that acquisition is a make-or-break moment. Getting the price right is about more than just affordability; it’s about how the price will be perceived by funders and investors. Overpaying can undermine your ability to raise money later (even if it’s ‘market price’ according to the valuation). If you’re unsure, seek advice to make sure you get the best possible deal you can, and negotiate hard!

At Hastings Commons, we’ve found what we call ‘development leases’ to be a helpful tool: a short-term lease, often two years, with a pre-agreed fixed purchase price. This lets you occupy the building and learn its quirks, with breathing space to raise funds and prove to investors (who’ll be able to see and feel what you’re doing in space) that the transformation is worth backing. It’s not the right solution every time, but it can build confidence with both sellers and lenders.

For meanwhile or short-term uses, if you’ll be investing into making improvements to the site, make sure the lease reflects that value that you will add. 

Loans will likely form some part of the mix in financing acquisition, but with the risk of interest rates rising, use them carefully (see more on fundraising for community assets here).

Step 3: Plan for change (and budget for it)

No matter how well you plan, things will change. Budgets shift, timelines slip, and needs evolve. Build in more contingency than you think you’ll need – 10% at least, but ideally 20% or more – and get professional advice before signing anything.

We’ve seen projects become undone because tender prices came back higher than the funds secured, or because market and regulatory changes hit mid-project. Quantity surveyors, legal, and design support are not nice-to-haves; they are safeguards as long as you find people that ‘get’ what you are trying to do.

Step 4: Track everything in one place

Once you’re operating a building, or several (as many community asset developers aim to do, for neighbourhood-wide transformation and resilience), tracking the right information becomes essential. At Hastings Commons, our ‘spreadsheet to rule them all’ tracks each space’s size, use, rent, condition, and occupancy in one place, updated monthly. It’s useful not only for internal decision-making but also for building trust with finance providers.

If you are (sub)letting space, service charges can be another area where transparency matters. These charges are where you calculate all the fixed and variable costs across the building charge (energy, insurance and so on) and allocate them to each space and charge them from any occupiers. This must only be done for real costs. Split it fairly, and keep records clear. Sometimes it’s wiser to build some of those costs into the rental fee rather than as a service charge.

Image: Buildings and spaces being brought to life by Hastings Commons (over 9,000 sqm!).

Step 5: Balance your uses (and your books)

Your mix of uses will shape your finances. A single-purpose building is simpler, but mixed-use spaces (as community hubs often are, with events, food, housing, gardens) can bring both opportunities and complications. Decide early whether you’ll run activities in-house or work with partners who share your ethos and values, and understand the tax implications.

Many community organisations want a portion of non-revenue space for public good; this generally means paying business rates without the VAT offsets that come from trading income. Getting the right balance between community benefit and financial sustainability is key.

Step 6: Keep a close eye on cash flow

Cash flow is where many community asset projects stumble, especially early on in development phases. Know when money will arrive, when it’s due out, and how VAT fits into the picture (refunds can take months, which is a long time if your funding is paid in arrears). It’s vital to have a solid finance tool, like Xero or Quickbooks, and someone with skills like producing forecasts.

Step 7: Get your information flow right too

A beautiful spreadsheet or system isn’t useful if the data going in is vague or full of errors. Avoid creating codes or categories that are too broad (like ‘development’ if you’re developing multiple assets, or ‘earned income’ if you have multiple spaces and streams) – or ones that are so detailed and numerous that no one uses them correctly. Take the time to set up systems, to cover just enough uses and purposes to be useful, and train the people entering information.

Step 8: Work as a team

Finally, treat finance as a shared responsibility. At Hastings Commons, we’ve learned the value of making financial systems understandable to everyone in the organisation. When project leaders can own, see and question the numbers for their area, it not only prevents mistakes but sparks ideas and catches risks early. It’s one of the best ways to build resilience – and one I wish we’d embraced from the very beginning.

About Bob Thust: Bob is an accountant by training, Finance, Investment & Operations Lead at Hastings Commons, and Partner at PG Collective.