All about CLTs | Broadwindsor Group Parish Community Land Trust

All about Community Land Trusts
-Read the latest NCLT news here

So, what are CLTs?
- A short explanatory introduction by Tom Chance, Chief Executive, National Community Land Trust network
- Read more below

CLTs take ownership of land, removing it from the market place and stewarding it on behalf of the local community.
They typically provide affordable homes, community gardens, civic buildings, pubs, shops, shared workspace, energy schemes and conservation landscapes.
But the CLT model can also be used to safeguard assets valuable to the community (see sidebar). Or to steward large areas of common or public land.
▸Growing and here to stay. The number of CLTs has been growing exponentially for a decade. They act as long-term stewards of community assets, ensuring that they remain genuinely affordable for local people, not just for now but for every future occupier.
By forming a partnership with a Housing Association, the CLT can lead the housing project and generate a long-term income whilst being protected from the risks involved. The community then has a financially viable Trust able to take on future projects for the benefit of that community. The main features about this new way of doing things are:
▸ Land ownership.
The CLT can secure the housing site in perpetuity for the community (with an option to take on full ownership of the properties from the Housing Association should the CLT ever wish to do so). The CLT will enter into a long term lease with the Housing Association and have an influence over important things like layout, design and occupancy.
▸Affordable Homes for rent for local people.
Those with a strong local connection – through living or working in the parish, or having family there – have priority for the housing. This is enshrined in a legally binding agreement between the Council, the Housing Association and the Community Land Trust.
▸ Access to grant funding.
The creation of the CLT enables access to grant funding to be obtained for community led housing schemes.
▸ Financial viability.
The CLT obtains an income from ground rents sufficient to cover the Trust’s running costs and provide a small income for other projects. The Trust is therefore financially sustainable.
▸It's democratic.
The Trust is a democratic organisation - with membership open to anyone supporting its objectives.