Common good assets are the heritable (land and buildings) and moveable (paintings, furniture, etc.) property that belonged to the former Burghs of Scotland. Common Good assets are owned by the local authority, although administered separately from other local authority funds for accounting purposes.
Not all land in a former burgh owned by modern Councils is Common Good. Some of it may have been acquired by other councils, like the former county, or district councils. But, almost all former burghs had a Common Good Fund, which consisted of land, buildings, and items like paintings, and cash.
The land and buildings which a burgh owned contained three main categories:
- those acquired under a statute (for example, land bought for council housing)
- land held on trust where a benefactor had provided for a specific trust to be administered by the fund
- Common Good property
What property now forms part of the Common Good Fund may sometimes need research, as it may not be obvious from the titles what the property was acquired for.
Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and following Scottish Government Guidance, we have a duty to publish a Common Good register which lists all our Common Good properties. The land and buildings set out in the Asset Register and interactive map below are the result of considerable research and consultation with the communities involved.
Proposals to dispose or change the use of Common Good assets must follow a prescribed process in accordance with legislation. This includes public consultation. Details of current and previous consultations along with representations and decisions can be found by area below.
Current Public Consultations
Previous Consultations and Decisions
All enquiries regarding the Common Good should be sent to CommonGoodEnquiries@fife.gov.uk