There are two ways to help protect community facilities that are important and valued by local people, these include council owned buildings such as youth centres and privately owned buildings such as pubs:
Firstly, Community Asset Transfer allows a community asset that is owned by a public body, such as a Council, to be transferred to a community or voluntary organisation.
More details can be found here
Secondly, an Asset of Community Value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. Voluntary and community organisations can nominate an asset to be included on the Council’s register of Asset of Community Value, which gives that organisation time to raise money to buy the asset if it is put up for sale. This is of course no good if an asset has already been sold.
More details can be found here