All about Community Land Trusts
"Community Land Trusts make good places…they are about more than bricks and mortar. They achieve environmentally-friendly homes, green spaces and communities where people want to live"
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All about CLTs
Community Land Trusts are being set up across the country to help provide affordable homes and services for local people. 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.
2021: Half of councils in England & Wales now supportive of community led housing
New research carried out by the National Community Land Trust Network revealed that half of local authorities in England and Wales are supportive of community led housing development.
- 347 active CLTs in 2020
- 507 CLT projects in development
- 6,969 CLT homes planned over the next 5 years
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.
● Potential for other projects.
The priority is land for affordable housing – using the current housing needs survey to establish number and mix. However, the scope of the Trust provides a vehicle for the Broadwindsor Group Parish CLT to own, develop and protect other property and land (e.g. to provide assets important to that community - community enterprises, food growing, community gardens or workspaces, for example.)
● It's democratic.
The Trust is a democratic organisation - with membership open to anyone supporting its objectives.
2021: Half of councils in England & Wales now supportive of community led housing
New research carried out by the National Community Land Trust Network revealed that half of local authorities in England and Wales are supportive of community led housing development.
- 347 active CLTs in 2020
- 507 CLT projects in development
- 6,969 CLT homes planned over the next 5 years
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.
● Potential for other projects.
The priority is land for affordable housing – using the current housing needs survey to establish number and mix. However, the scope of the Trust provides a vehicle for the Broadwindsor Group Parish CLT to own, develop and protect other property and land (e.g. to provide assets important to that community - community enterprises, food growing, community gardens or workspaces, for example.)
● It's democratic.
The Trust is a democratic organisation - with membership open to anyone supporting its objectives.
Enabling services for community-led housing across Devon, Dorset and Somerset – in particular community land trust and housing association partnerships – will be provided by Middlemarch CIC. Read the joint statement from Wessex Community Assets and Middlemarch LLP here
Below: villages in the Parish area, in sequential order.
Blackdown, Burstock, Drimpton, Hursey, Kittwhistle, Seaborough.
▸ Click on the first photo to enlarge and scroll through.
(Photos: Sheila Hawkins)
Blackdown, Burstock, Drimpton, Hursey, Kittwhistle, Seaborough.
▸ Click on the first photo to enlarge and scroll through.
(Photos: Sheila Hawkins)
