David Cameron pledges £250m for local communities to buy pubs and shops He said: "Social investment can no longer be the poor relation. I want you to help us shape an effective tax incentive that mirrors many of the features of the successful tax advantaged venture capital schemes. Big Society Capital tell us that tax reliefs could generate an extra half a billion pounds in social investments over the next five years. And I am determined that we should see the benefits of that. He also announced a "social stock exchange" that will promote and provide information about social enterprises to potential investors. He added: "This is just the beginning. For years the London Stock Exchange has made London the home for private finance, today London can cement its place as the home for social finance too. Big Society Capital and the Big Lottery Fund will make a long-term commitment of £250 million over the rest of the decade to "communities with ambitions to own local assets like pubs, shops, community centres and affordable housing," said Mr Cameron. Some of the money from the lottery fund will go into grants to support projects which cannot be expected to turn a profit. But £50 million of the money will go into a community asset fund to provide grants and loans to help get projects off the ground which could go on to be commercially viable over the long term. The scheme should help communities across the country follow the example of residents of Fenham in Newcastle, who saved a swimming pool threatened with closure, he said.