A POPULAR social enterprise is set to become the latest successful applicant in East Ayrshire’s community asset transfer.

But yipworld have been told that they won’t OWN their own building and will have to make do with a long-term lease.

It will be confirmed at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the organisation will get a 90-year lease for the facility.

It brings an end to a 15-month saga for yipworld bosses, who have become increasingly frustrated with the length of time it’s taken to get to this stage.

They had wanted to buy the land and property outright but will instead pay a rental of £1890 per annum instead of buying the facility.

Yipworld boss Janice Hendry said: “We have committed a lot of time, reports, applications and meetings on this so have yet to tally up just exactly how much it will all cost to have come to this point.

“They have told us that they can’t sell us the building and we have negotiated a 90-year lease.

“Hopefully we can move forward.” Janice and her team now hope to press ahead with a new mult-games area - including an all-ability section for people with disabilities - and incorporate a community garden.

They will have to lodge a planning application but it remains to be seen if the ownership issue will have any impact on their application.

While Janice was not wanting to comment further, it seems that most organisations have been forced into lease agreements rather than buying the property outright.

Council chiefs put community buildings up for grabs when they set up East Ayrshire Leisure Trust last year as they look to save money by reducing the number of council-owned properties by 25 per cent.

They will now receive a rental income and expenditure will be reduced on items such as energy and repairs.