Land, buildings, structures and moveable items (paintings, furniture etc.) that belonged to the former burghs of Scotland and passed to local authorities through local government reorganisation in the 1970s. In some areas, the Common Good includes cash funds.

Common Good assets are the heritable (land and buildings) and moveable (paintings, furniture, etc.) property that belonged to the former burghs of Scotland. 

Fife Council. However, there are distinct legal requirements around how Common Good assets and funds are managed and administered.

Fife Council maintains a register of Common Good Assets and Land Map, published online on our Common Good page. The register is updated, usually on an annual basis, to reflect any changes.

The original list of Common Good assets was compiled in the late 2000s by Council officers including the Legal team, Museum staff and staff based in buildings (for example, town halls etc.). It was shared with community groups and, where omissions and changes were requested, these were checked by staff and, where appropriate, amendments made.

If you think the register needs to be updated in any way, you should send details and supporting evidence to commongoodenquiries@fife.gov.uk. Evidence might include charters, minutes or other documents pertaining to the burgh. Amendments can be requested and investigated at any time and the Council will consider all requests.

It can be difficult to establish whether or not property is Common Good. The general rule is that property can be Common Good if it was gifted to or acquired by the burgh on or before 15 May 1975 and it meets these criteria:

• It has been used by the general public for a long time
• It was dedicated for a specific public purpose
• The title conditions ensuring public use were agreed in the original charter

There can be other factors that determine if a property is Common Good or not, such as statutory reasons for owning a property, how it was acquired or if it is held by a separate trust.

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.

Each Council property has a unique Site Reference Number (SRN) to enable identification and avoid confusion. These numbers are included, where relevant, in the Common Good Asset Register.

Accession numbers are used by Museum Services. When Common Good items are acquired by the OnFife Museum Service, they are “accessioned” into the collection and given a unique number. By accessioning objects, a Museum Service is required by professional sector standards to ensure the long-term care and conservation of the items. Not all Common Good movable assets are in the OnFife collections. Some items are stored in Common Good buildings or in communities; these ones don’t have accession numbers.

While local authorities have no specific legal duties to maintain Common Good land and buildings, Fife Council’s position is that it should maintain Common Good assets along with the rest of the Council’s assets. Where Common Good properties are leased to another organisation, this organisation may have responsibility for maintenance. This depends on the terms of the lease.

If a Common Good asset is occupied and actively managed by a Council service then that service should fund any repairs or maintenance from their own budgets, within available resources. If the asset is leased to another organisation, maintenance obligations will be as set out in the lease agreement.

There may be instances where services or organisations do not have adequate resources to cover the repairs or maintenance required. In these cases, application can be made to the relevant Common Good Fund. The Common Good Policy states that the first call on Common Good Funds is to maintain Common Good assets.

If a Common Good asset is occupied and actively managed by a Council Service, any income generated should be paid to the Council as they are actively managing the properties and incurring all the costs.

Where properties are leased to external organisations with no Council Service being involved in the management of the property, that income should be credited to the Common Good account.

In managing Common Good assets – as with all of its assets - the Council seeks to ensure that they are used to best value. If the Council is considering whether to sell, lease or change the use of any Common Good asset, it has to follow a statutory 8-week consultation process. This includes consulting with the Community Council, local elected members and other interested bodies, and advertising the proposals in line with Section 104 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

Some Common Good land and buildings can only be appropriated or disposed of with the consent of either the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session. These are known as “inalienable” Common Good assets.

As well as property and other assets, there are a number of towns in Fife that have a Common Good Fund. These are:

• Cowdenbeath Area – Lochgelly
• Glenrothes Area – Leslie, Markinch
• Kirkcaldy Area – Kirkcaldy (including Dysart), Burntisland, Kinghorn
• Levenmouth Area – Buckhaven & Methil, Leven
• North East Fife Area – Anstruther, Auchtermuchty, Crail, Cupar, Elie & Earlsferry, Falkland, Newburgh, Newport, Pittenweem, St Andrews, St Monans, Tayport
• South and West Area – for historic reasons, a consolidated Fund covering Dunfermline (including Rosyth), Culross and Inverkeithing

For historic reasons, the size of Common Good Funds varies significantly.

Money held within Common Good Funds are to be used for the public benefit of the former burgh. This can include use of the funds for maintenance or repair of Common Good assets (for example, buildings) and support for local projects.

Common Good Funds generate income annually from rental agreements, interest on investments held and interest on revenue balances. A dedicated Common Good and Trusts Investment Sub-Committee oversees investment arrangements, including the appointment of fund managers.

While investments are managed at a Fife-wide level, decisions about how money is spent are taken locally.

Common Good grants are administered by the Council’s local area teams. Applications for funding can be submitted at any time. If applications meet the basic criteria of providing public benefit in the former burgh, they are shared with the relevant community through the Community Council (unless the Community Council are the applicant or no Community Council is established) and with the Ward elected members, who are invited to give their views. All comments provided are taken into account in the decision-making.

Where an application is for £5,000 or less, the decision as to whether or not to approve it are made by local Council officers. If the application is for a larger amount of money, the decision is taken by a Committee of elected members (the relevant Area Committee or, in West Fife, the West Fife Area Common Good Sub-Committee).

The Common Good Policy sets out arrangements which are intended to safeguard Common Good Funds. This involves setting aside proportions of surplus balances for certain purposes, including investment. The aim is to sustain the funds in the longer term, and to make provision for costs of future maintenance and repairs of Common Good assets, while ensuring that funds are also set aside for local projects.

Funding for local projects is managed by local area teams. Information about Common Good Funds, the grant application process and who to contact in your local area is available on our Common Good Funds page.

A wide range of projects can be funded, provided that they will benefit the inhabitants of the former burgh.

This depends on a number of factors, including the size of the funding request and whether it has to go to Committee for approval. Your local team will be able to advise further.

Reports on Common Good Funds go to all seven Area Committees annually. These include details of income (for example, rental income) and expenditure (for example, grants for local projects). Papers are in the public domain and can be found on our Committees page.