Community Land Trusts

Want to set up a Community Land Trust (CLT) in your community?

CLT Officer Andy Lloyd can discuss your needs and ideas, arrange visits to existing schemes, provide business planning, funding and procurement advice and guide communities through the development process. Fees apply and grants can be accessed to cover these. Support is available in North West and North East England. Andy Lloyd is a board member of the National CLT Network which CRHT is affiliated to.

Contact Andy via the button on the right.

December 2015 - Keswick Community Housing Trust 3rd scheme of 22 homes well under way

Keswick Community Housing Trust is on site at Calvert Way with their third scheme of 22 new build homes which will bring it's total housing stock to 37 units having opened it's first scheme of 11 homes in December 2013. See case study under 'resources'.

29th September 2015 - Keswick Community Housing Trust opens second scheme

Banks Court is the second of Keswick Community Housing Trust’s developments. Formerly a toilet block, long disused and becoming an eye-sore, it was sold to the Trust by Allerdale BC for £1. The building in the town center has been renovated to provide four small apartments suitable for occupancy by single people. The apartments have an open-plan living room with kitchen area, a shower room and one bedroom. Two are situated on the ground floor and two are first floor flats. It is now ready for occupancy and four local people are about to move in. The rental is significantly cheaper than those for similar properties in the town and they provide an affordable addition to the town’s housing stock. Unfortunately, there were many disappointed, suitable applicants for the four properties - demonstrating the great need for further developments in Keswick.

Cumbria CLTs generate interest at House of Lords event

Rural Housing National Conference 9th July 2015 - positive response to Cumbria 'hands on CLT' acheivements.

See presentation under 'Resources' on the right

Right to Buy proposals www.rsnonline.org.uk/rural-housing-spotlight-articles/rural-housing-spotlight

The Right to Buy

One of the biggest issues facing housing associations and Community Land Trusts - the Housing Bill  - CLTs may be affected because they had to become a Registered Provider (Housing Association) to get housing grant, or because they own the freehold of a scheme that was developed by an existing Registered Provider.

Keswick Community Housing Trust's chair Bill Bewley’s letter read in the House of Lords by Lord Dale Campbell Savours 25th June 2015 “We need to provide truly affordable housing for people who work here on low wages and to RETAIN available affordable housing against a property market which attracts high prices from wealthy purchasers seeking second homes or retirement. To grant a “Right to Buy” measure in the proposed form defeats the object of our charitable trust and totally undermines our good efforts.”

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201516/ldhansrd/text/150629-gc0001.htm

The new Government proposes to introduce a new Right to Buy for tenants in housing associations. This is like the Right to Acquire, which is already available to housing association tenants, but this time the discounts will be much larger - just over £100,000 in London and £77,000 in the rest of England. The idea is that the housing associations will be reimbursed for the difference and that the total cost to the public purse will be met by local authorities selling off their expensive properties once they become vacant.

CRHT and the National CLT Network is calling on the Government to exempt all CLTs from the Right to Buy. Please right to your MP alerting them to the potential impact of the Right to Buy. You can use the template letter on the National CLT Network web site. www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/about-the-network/our-campaigns

Cumbrian communities lead the way

Lyvennet Community Trust - 2012 10 affordable homes opened by Rory Stewart MP. 8 self build plots under development, Butchers Arms community pub rescue. June 2013 David Graham chair of Lyvennet Trust and the National CLT Network awarded MBE for sevrices to the community. “The thing you get the most pleasure from is seeing people’s faces when you hand the keys over for their house. That is worth a lot more than anything else. And the housing is there, held in perpetuity for the village,” said David.

Keswick Community Housing Trust (KCHT) December 2013 - completed it's first £1.4m scheme of 11 homes at The Hopes. No rent charged on shared ownership. 2015 Sheepdog Field 22 more new build affordable homes on site plus asset transfer of the Banks Court toilet block from Allerdale Council for convrsion to four single persons flats. Trust Chairman Bill Bewley is passionate about local housing says “This has been a real team effort with every trustee playing an important part. We know the lack of affordable homes is an issue for many communities. This affects families, employers and employees, and results in crazy situations where even people on reasonable middle incomes spend large chunks of their time and money travelling back to places of work – as happens with teachers at Keswick School. It’s common sense to see that new secure affordable homes will have a stabilising effect on the whole community. So we are very keen to help others achieve what we have!”

Helsington CLT - in pre-planning for scheme of 4 rented and 2 shared ownership homes funded by South Lakeland DC and HCA grant, CLT Network pre-development loan and cross subsidy from 2 market homes.

Ulverston new CLT group exploring several sites in the town.

Carlisle group exploring opportunitiies to develop housing and food production.

Derwent Forest Development Company considering development of affordable homes via CLTs.

Penrith Partnership consultation - support for CLT schemes working with CRHT

Lancaster City Council exploring CLT housing with CRHT

Manifesto for Community Land Trusts

Successive governments have failed to tackle the severe under-supply and rising cost of our national housing stock. For example there are now more children that are homeless than in 1966 when the landmark documentary Cathy Come Home was made which led to the birth of the housing charity Shelter.

The National CLT Network (NCLT) is calling on the government to make Community Land Trusts a key part of the solution to the housing crisis.

There are now over 170 Community Land Trusts across England and Wales. By 2020, Community Land Trusts will have developed 3,000 new homes across England and Wales. And with the right funding and support, we could see that figure triple.

www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/home

Why CLTs?

CLTs are community owned ‘not for profit’ companies that can develop community assets like affordable housing. CLTs are a form of community led development supported by the Localism Act. CLTs aim to

Ensure local need is prioritised

Maximise affordability for their occupants – for example not charging rent as well as mortgages for shared ownership

Provide larger more practical homes

Protect homes for the community in perpetuity

Generate income to re-invest in the community

Embrace self build and eco-build

Create stable neighbourhoods

Develop other assets - shops, pubs, green spaces

Increase community capacity and sustainability

Cumbria Community Land Trust Officer Post:

The 2006 - 11 Cumbria Housing Strategy Affordable Housing Action Plan included “Developing innovative ways of delivering affordable housing” including asset transfers, Community Land Trusts and Co-operative models with CRHT as the lead agency on CLT and Co-op actions. As a result of this and the lead set by Witherslack CLT the Cumbria CLT Officer post was established in January 2008 initially funded by the Lake District National Park and South Lakeland District Council. The project is currently funded by the Tudor Trust and by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development: Europe Investing in Rural Areas being delivered through the North West development Agency with Defra as the Managing Authority. Previously it was funded by the Lake District National Park Authority; Eden District Council, South Lakeland District Council; South Lakeland LSP, Eden Housing Association, Westfield Housing Association, Carlisle City Council.

CLT definition in the 2008 Housing & Regeneration Act

A CLT must be a corporate body furthering the social, economic and environmental interests of a local community by acquiring and managing land and other assets in order to provide a benefit to the local community.

And ensure assets are not sold or developed except in a manner which benefits the local community.

And that any profits from activities will be used to benefit the local community.

Ensure individuals who live or work in the specified area have the opportunity to become members.

Ensure the trust is controlled by the members.

Attachments:

The National CLT Network manifesto

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