Community Land Trust Network

The Community Right to Buy has the potential to be truly transformational in growing community autonomy to create socially, economically and environmentally thriving places. But we need key funding and policy support to sit alongside this to be truly meaningful to cities, towns and villages everywhere - but especially in the most financially disadvantaged areas. That's why we've co-signed Power to Change's letter alongside Locality, Plunkett UK, Co-operatives UK, The Ubele Initiative, Cwmpas, Leeds Community Homes Ltd, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Shared Assets, Voice4Change England and other stalwarts in community-led ownership and regeneration. Read the letter today ⬇️

Fantastic news from our network members, Inspiring Housing CLT and Greater Manchester Community Led Homes Hub, who have now officially become Registered Providers of Social Housing - the first Community Led Housing Organisation to do so in Greater Manchester! This team should be incredibly proud of their achievement, which means that they can now access Homes England grants to create new affordable homes for and with their local communities. In this way, becoming an RP can give a CLT and their community a substantial leg up within our current system. Registration as a Registered Provider of Social Housing (RP) is a time intensive and complicated decision and journey for a CLT, with many choosing to partner instead with an existing RP instead of undertaking this process in a system which is designed for much larger organisations. While we celebrate the achievements of all CLTs that have become RPs, as part of our lobbying, particularly in National Planning Policy Framework revisions, we will continue to ask government to consider expanding their requirements to give leeway to other non-profit providers. (See more here: https://lnkd.in/exjHGqsu) You can read more about RPs and CLTs here: https://lnkd.in/d2jkqf3r

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀? We are pleased to share a new report on this subject, produced in partnership with the Community Land Trust Network of England and Wales and the European Community Land Trust Network, supported by Laudes Foundation. This is part of our work exploring new forms of governance across multiple sectors including energy and housing, alongside multiple stakeholders. 🚨 Read the full report at this link: https://lnkd.in/ef9xw-CB Current place management norms aren’t working. Millions of people live in new housing estates with a limited say on how their neighbourhood is managed. Unadopted roads and parks leave residents footing often expensive and unclear bills for maintenance, with little or no long-term planning for the impacts of climate change. The use of private management models to deal with place management has ballooned as local council finances have worsened. As the UK focuses on expanding housebuilding, this report sets out an alternative approach, putting effective community stewardship at the heart of the long-term well-being of new large housing developments. Referencing five trailblazing communities that shape, own, and steward large-scale housing developments in England, and supported by interviews with various stakeholders, we lay out a credible model for civic collaboration that can provide compounding benefits for current residents, future generations, and our environments. This promotes place stewardship approaches that provide long-term, genuinely democratic ways of making our neighbourhoods more resilient to future risks, promoting quality of life and wellbeing. What change could community-led stewardship enable in the places you’ve lived and worked? How could this impact future generations of residents? If you want to talk about this work, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Daniel Hill Charlie Fisher Emma Pfeiffer Indy Johar Tom Chance Laura Parker-Tong Thieme Hennis Kym Shaen-Carter Katharine Hibbert Mike Saunders SallyAnne Logan Rupesh Varsani Jimm Reed John Lewis Debra Yudolph Emma Darch Nicholas Falk Anna Strongman Chris Brown Paul Augarde Alex Russell Levent Kerimol Emma Grima Oliver Bulleid

New research proposes a community-led alternative to private management of new housing estates, and describes scenarios for councils, landowners, developers and communities to implement this using the Community Land Trust Model. In the UK, private management companies have become the default arrangement, with as many as 1.75 million households paying charges to them for the upkeep of parks, roads and other facilities. But the Competition and Markets Authority has called for them to be banned due to the ‘significant detriment’ they cause for consumers, and the government has pledged to ban the ‘fleecehold’ charges some levy on residents. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eZXziCkH The research, published by the Community Land Trust Network, Dark Matter Labs and the European Community Land Trust Network, and funded by Laudes Foundation, draws on comparative learning from five case studies and industry interviews. It recommends that principles and practices that support community-led place stewardship should be incorporated into planning, procurement, financial and practice policies, and describes how this can happen in scenarios where a local council, a purpose-led developer or landowner, or a community campaign takes the initiative. The research also sets out implications for industry.

Incredible news from Hastings Commons, which has been awarded a Gold in the World Habitat Awards! This iconic CLT has restored local heritage buildings into affordable homes, work spaces, and community hubs, which support local people experiencing housing insecurity, young people with youthwork projects, nurture arts and innovation, and create meaningful community connection - all in a town acutely impacted by the housing crisis. We know many members of the CLT Network are inspired by the projects they have delivered so far, so we are delighted to see them gain this highly deserved international recognition - read more about Hastings Commons' Award here: https://lnkd.in/eyTrSVUn Congratulations to all the awardees internationally, whose innovative and inspiring projects can be seen in this awardee video: https://bit.ly/4ai6rqX

This report represents a groundbreaking piece of work for the community-led movement researched and written by Claude Hendrickson MBE, Henri Baptiste, Tom Moore and Yael Arbell. 2025 will see us explore how the report's recommendations can guide us to shape the English and Welsh CLT movement into a better, more inclusive place for communities and leaders from Black and minoritised ethnic communities. Not read it yet? Dive in here: https://lnkd.in/d6TiPRNc

This has been a big year for the CLT Network - watch our 2024 recap video to see what we got up to and to hear from four CLTs all about the highlights from their years. A huge thank you to the members, partners and supporters who spent 2024 with us and made it so special! An extra special thanks to Sanya Polescuk from NW3 COMMUNITY LAND TRUST LIMITED, Nick Chalke from Arundel CLT, Jim Gaffney from BISHOPS CASTLE & DISTRICT COMMUNITY LAND TRUST LIMITED, and James Neward from YorSpace for sharing their stories.

Homebaked Community Land Trust has released an official statement about Liverpool City Council's decision to sell the 9 terrace homes earmarked for this CLT on the open market. This statement announces their plans to partner with an organisation to bid on the site when it becomes available on the open market. If you are able to support the future of these iconic terraced homes, please reach out to their team. As their statement says, nobody knows these houses or is dedicated to transforming them into dignified, warm and affordable homes with and for the community like Homebaked Community Land Trust! Read their full official statement: https://lnkd.in/eC6VTaeM

On Thursday the government published the revised NPPF - our CEO, Tom Chance, has summarised our immediate response to these updates here: https://lnkd.in/e3Bv533K The 2023 revision marked an important moment where community-led development was mentioned for the first time in the NPPF and our long lobbied for "Community-led Exception Sites" were included. We are glad that many of our Network's suggestions and refinements to the 2023 consultation have been incorporated into the 2024 update. These will make a real difference for CLTs at the local level as they try to move ahead in systems that haven't always been set up with small, community-led developments in mind. Unfortunately, not all of our changes were picked up - which you'll be able to see in Tom's analysis - so in the new year we will review our next moves to keep advocating for the changes CLTs need to deliver more homes and significantly contribute to the UK's homebuilding and community regeneration targets. See our response here: https://lnkd.in/e3Bv533K Stay tuned also for analysis of today's Devolution White Paper coming later this week... 📸 Bristol Community Land Trust

We were completely dismayed to hear Liverpool City Council announce its intention to sell 9 empty terraced properties on the open market, which were slated to be to be handed over to Homebaked Community Land Trust to create new affordable homes. This is because of delays in Homebaked CLT's progress due to a series of events outside of their control, which they have consistently risen to the challenge to adapt and respond to. We stand in solidarity with the leaders of Homebaked CLT, who have given huge amounts of their time, dedication and energy to this outstanding and iconic CLT project. Our CEO, Tom Chance, has lobbied the Liverpool City Council to reconsider their decision. In the long term, we are continuing to work together with Homebaked and other CLTs to develop delivery models that give communities and councils confidence, while raising the profile of the effectiveness and importance of CLT homes. CLTs are a vital piece of the puzzle in delivering the affordable homes that our communities need, while growing community wealth, and social cohesion - and through CLTs these homes can remain affordable and in community ownership in perpetuity. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eRgC5-2E