When is Community Led Housing, Community Housing?

Part II in a series of posts unpacking the proposed development off Kingsway Park/Ropewalk in Kingsbridge by South Hams District Council

Nov 14, 2020

Part I looked in depth at how South Hams District Council’s scepticism about community capacity has led to an approach to Community Led Housing (CLH) that is distinctly more ‘Council-led’ than authentically community led. This has shaped the use of SHDC’s £1.88m allocation of the £60m Homes England Community Housing 2016, with a significant proportion of the funding being spent in-house. With reference to the Kingsbridge Ropewalk proposed development, in addition to the purchase of the site from Devon County Council, SHDC have so far spent more than £120k on a scheme described as `community led housing’, for a site they describe as `challenging and expensive’ to develop.

Why does it matter if a scheme for such a challenging site is council-led, versus community-led?

Much of the answer is explored in Part I. In Part II examples of CLH best practice point, tentatively, towards more positive outcomes for Kingsbridge from community led and community enabled housing versus a top down council led scheme.

Community Led Housing… What Is It?

There is no statutory definition of CLH - and it can take a variety of forms. One of the clearest definitions comes from Future of London (an independent network for regeneration, housing, infrastructure and economic development practitioners). They describe CLH as a process of meaningful community engagement and consent, rather than the built output.

It is the process that sets community-led housing apart.

CLH sector bodies (the National Community Land Trust Network, the UK Co-housing Network, the Confederation of Co-operative Housing and Self-Help-Housing.org) have adopted these defining principles (some of which Government used in its guidance to applicants for the Homes England Community Homes funding):

Meaningful community engagement and consent occurs throughout the development process. Communities do not necessarily have to initiate the conversation, or build homes themselves, though many do.
There is a presumption that the community group or organisation will take a long-term formal role in the ownership, stewardship or management of the homes.
The benefits to the local area and/or specified community are clearly defined and legally protected in perpetuity.

It’s also relevant to note that community led development is typified by a focus on design quality - and it is nearly always the case that community led design prioritises indoor and outdoor communal space and co-design processes - and sometimes co-production processes - to deliver features best suited to the end user.

Affordable housing provided through CLH schemes range from social rent, rental homes linked to local incomes, to different types of affordable ownership. CLH organisations may also have gained Registered Provider (RP) status to deliver rented housing using social housing grant, others, including the first three examples below, will work with an RP.

(since this film was made there are now over 240 community land trusts)

Community Led Homes is a partnership between the Confederation of Co-operative housing, Locality, the National Community Land Trust Network and UK Co-housing and offers signposting and advice on funding opportunities. They also led the The Enabler Hub Grant Programme to expand the network of Enabler Hubs - regional organisations supporting community led housing groups to deliver projects - with the explicit aim of creating a supportive local environment for community led housing (including engaging local authorities and housing associations) and to stimulate the creation of new groups and projects.

What Social Value do CLTs Deliver?

Research by Capital Economics, commissioned by the CLT Network, shows community led housing delivers significant economic, social and environmental benefits which equate to medium to high value for money for public funding [5].

“Developed from a combination of existing data, interviews and a survey of community led housing groups, the results show that over a ten-year horizon each £1 of public support delivers £1.80 of benefit, rising to £2.70 when health and benefit savings, wellbeing and income distribution are factored in”.

The report defines community led housing as schemes delivered by local communities for local communities.

The growing sector provides much-needed additional housing for those with lower incomes, with over 80% of community led homes in the development pipeline planned for rent at below-market rates.

In the majority of cases, these are homes that would not otherwise be built. Community led housing groups are willing to take on difficult sites that mainstream providers deem unviable.

Driven by local residents, their knowledge and ability to generate community consent is also a benefit: 10% of groups have developed sites which local opposition had previously prevented.

Community led housing groups are also special in the way they can unlock land for housing. The survey established that 80% of sites are acquired at below-market prices and close to 40% are acquired for free or at a token price.

There are broader benefits to this type of housing too. The estimated health and social care cost savings from reduced overcrowding, reduced hazard risk and improved outcomes for older people equate to around £560 per home per year.

The active inclusion of volunteers and residents in developing and managing their own homes enhances wellbeing, and using robust Treasury evaluation methods it has been calculated that “regular volunteers experience a net improvement in wellbeing equivalent to that delivered by £2,357 of extra income.” In other words, the wellbeing effects exceed the value of the unpaid labour that volunteers provide.

The benefits continue once residents move in “people active in tenants groups experienced a benefit to their wellbeing equivalent to £8,116.”

These benefits can only be realised through genuine community led schemes, as opposed to housing associations or council led schemes.

The full report can be read here

Cross Party Political Support

Across the political spectrum, there is support for community-led housing. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition’s Localism Act laid the groundwork for CLH in 2011 and the Conservatives rolled out the £163m Community Housing Fund in 2018. Labour’s Housing for the Many green paper commits to retaining the Community Housing Fund and recognises that “more could be done to raise public awareness and scale up delivery” (taken from FoL report).

Community Land Trusts… What Are They?

Although many of you will be familiar and knowledgable, an explanation is included here for inclusivity’s sake. Community Land Trusts are defined by the National CLT Network as

… powerful examples of communities taking control and transforming the future of their local community. They are non-profit, community-based organisations run by volunteers that develop housing, workspaces, community facilities or other assets that meet the needs of the community, are owned and controlled by the community and are made available at permanently affordable levels.

As mentioned, CLTs sometimes, but not always, partner with Housing Associations to achieve their goals

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.

In addition to Housing Associations, the Almshouse Association, a support charity representing over 1600 independent almshouse charities across the UK, also works with CLTs.

What Have Rural Community Land Trusts Achieved?

Appledore CLT - Ridge View Crescent

The community homes at Ridge View Crescent, Appledore have been developed by Appledore Community Land Trust (CLT) with housing association Aster Group and in partnership / supported by Wessex Community Housing hub and Torridge District Council. A decade in the making, this community-led project has delivered nine affordable rent one, two and three bed homes (built by EBC Enelco Ltd and designed by Trewin Design Architects). The award-winning site was recognised in the 2017/18 Rural Housing Award for Outstanding Community Contribution for its excellence and commitment to overcoming significant challenges to bring affordable housing to Appledore.

This site is in some ways comparable to the Kingsbridge site in terms of the challenge associated with access and topography. The cost per unit was approximately £144k with a total cost of approximately £1.3m. Aster Group are currently working with 18 CLTs and are currently approached every week by one or two CLTs interested in partnering with them.

Nailsworth CLT - Valley View

Created after a steering group was set up in 2013 to address local housing need in the area, Nailsworth CLT have delivered 6 flats and 4 houses in the Lawnside area of Forest Green, Nailsworth. `Valley View’ was built in partnership with Aster Group, GCP architects and EG Carter, with help given by Stroud District Council. Located on a former garage site that was sold to the CLT by Stroud District Council for £1, the development was shaped by the community from the start, with planning permission being granted via a ‘Community Right to Build Order’, following a referendum where locals got the chance to vote on whether or not the project should go ahead. The CLT now retains ownership of the land and Aster Group manages and maintains the properties and tenancies.

Powerstock & District CLT - Forge Orchard

Powerstock and District CLT (PDCLT) formed in 2012 and is situated in West Dorset AONB. The scheme is made up of 8 homes, five two-bedroom, two one-bedroom and one three-bedroom. On completion at the end of February 2019, the management of the homes was taken on by rural housing specialists, Hastoe Housing, as a partner to PDCLT, and tenants moved in almost immediately. Cllr Graham Carr-Jones, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, said “Forge Orchard is a perfect example of just how well community land trusts can work”. The total cost of the development was £1.8m with the former West Dorset District Council contributing £195,000 and Homes England £360,000. The scheme was designed by Etchingham Morris Architecture, and the project came forwards with the support of Wessex CLT Project and the landowner of the scheme. More info here.

Dorchester Area CLT - Sensitive Heritage Site in Town

DACLT is working to build affordable homes to let to young workers in the town. There will be 19 one-bedroom flats for local people aged under 25 who live and work in Dorchester, and who earn no more than £30,000 p.a. DACLT will offer these homes at significantly below the market rate to support young people struggling to find affordable accommodation. Homes will be permanently affordable for future owners. Reed Watts, who have experience in developing heritage sensitive locations and have worked with other Community Land Trusts, are designing the site.

Chagford CLT - Bellacouch Meadow, Dartmoor

Together with Aster Group, Chagford CLT, delivered the first Section 106 CLT scheme in the UK and the largest development in the history of Dartmoor National Park. Delivering a total of 28 homes; 22 for affordable rent and six for shared ownership, the development forms part of the master plan for Chagford. The site will also include a new fire station, work units and parking. Built by CG Fry & Son Ltd, the first homes were handed over in 2019, with more due for completion in 2020.

Christow CLT, Teignbridge and Dartmoor National Park - Stafford Close

Christow Community Land Trust (CCLT), in partnership with local affordable housing provider Teign Housing, delivered 18 new Passivhaus homes in the village of Christow, in Dartmoor National Park in August 2016. The land was donated for £1 by Teignbridge District Council and Dartmoor National Park Authority supported the CLT through the planning process. Designed by Mitchell Architects and built by Pearce Construction the project highlighted the challenges involved in producing a quality product which met the requirements for Passivhaus. The 18 affordable dwellings (two, three, and four bedroom houses and bungalows) comprise 14 for rent as affordable housing and 4 were sold on the open market. The homes are timber framed homes with large window overhangs and solar thermal hot water. Passivhaus Certification was awarded in November 2016, however not all units met the full Standard. The four open market dwellings met the PHI Low Energy Standard.

The Experts - Wessex CLT

The Wessex CLT Project has been instrumental in supporting most of the projects you will read about. They currently advise and support approximately fifty different Community Land Trusts across the Devon, Somerset and Dorset area. Their wide and deep expertise has made them the partner of choice for many CLTs.

Develop an Environmentally Friendly Scheme through the Pre-App Stage of Planning - Lilac CLT, Leeds

LILAC Co-Housing CLT in Leeds only wanted 10 car parking spaces for 20 houses. As you will hear, by listening from 17 minutes in, this was a difficult concept for Highways to wrap their heads around, but with some help from their Project Manager, and after Lilac had given a talk on Co-Housing to the Highways agency, they found a way to achieve their wish for an environmentally friendly scheme with greatly reduced car parking space. This film from Wessex CLT, part of a `How To’ CLT course, also includes an overview of the Nailsworth CLT project, Valley View.

Innovation in Community Land Trust led Design and Build - Turner Prize Winners working with a Rural CLT

Assemble - an interdisciplinary practice working across the built environment to create, design and manage better places for everyone - won the Turner Prize with Granby Four Streets “an ongoing community-led project to rebuild Granby, a Liverpool neighbourhood that was nearly made derelict by decades of poorly-planned regeneration initiatives”. Granby4Streets CLT manages the project.

Coming to Dorset…

We’re very used to seeing and hearing about design innovation in cities with rural counterparts seen as the place that adopts the ideas after they’ve been proved in urban spaces (maybe why some development feels so out of keeping). Raise the Roof are bringing a new level of creativity and ambition for design, for creativity, for meaningful work - for a circular economy with a new and exciting project in the early stages of evolution. Working with Bridport Town Council, Wessex Community Assets and the Arts Development Company, Assemble is supporting Raise the Roof as a way of delivering ambitions for genuinely affordable and community led housing, as set out in the Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan.

This ambitious project has a number of propositions which it’s considering in the rural context of this project and, even in its early stages, is providing design and construction training for local people (and recently housed an entrenched rough sleeper in the process through a `tiny home’ project). Showing what’s possible in rural contexts, many of the people involved in this project are integral to Wessex CLTs success. The propositions provide an integrative scope for development

Nurturing diversity
We must nurture and sustain the remarkable diversity and independent spirit that Bridport has, by supporting businesses, artists, small manufacturers and local industries to continue to work within the town, providing jobs and creating a vibrant, varied urban life. Bridport’s grander cultural and civic buildings are protected, but historic sites of industry in the town are not. Planned residential development would push this diversity to the fringes or out of town, replacing them with commercial uses that contribute less to Bridport’s vibrant civic life.
Building equity and resilience
Conventional approaches to greenfield development produce a limited public benefit. Local businesses struggle to capture a share of the business and jobs that a large development project and communities experience little direct benefit, either in the form of new public infrastructure, shared spatial assets or affordable housing that meets local needs. Alternative, community-led approaches address these limitations by enabling locally based and locally-focussed organisations to create and retain control of valued local assets, including affordable housing and other social ventures. This approach has the potential to strengthen communities, building a more equitable, resilient and diverse society that redirects wealth back into the local economy. It also shifts the balance of power, ensuring the benefits of development are put into the hands of local people and businesses.
Homes for local people
Bridport’s Housing Needs Assessment makes clear the town ‘shares the ills of a National housing shortage where the prospect of being able to buy or even rent a home has become increasingly remote for many.’ Bridport doesn’t need more unaffordable open-market housing – it needs homes to rent or buy that are genuinely affordable for local people on local incomes. Being strategic about the areas where new neighbourhoods are built will retain the distinctiveness and character of local settlements, and resist wasteful sprawl.
Restoring ecosystems
Public resistance to building up to 1,000 homes rightly focuses on the negative impact of large-scale, low-quality development. But the environment is already being degraded – industry and agriculture contaminate soil and water, while construction, transport and housing pollutes the air and causes environmental harm. Variety and resilience is a priority in local ecosystems, as it is within the local community – increasing the coverage of local forests and mixed woodlands, improving the stewardship of all landscapes, regenerating local agricultural land by introducing new practices and allowing more fields to rewild or recover their character and diversity as heaths and meadows.
Green renewal of local industry
Hemp and flax have been cultivated around Bridport for over 800 years, reaching a peak during the 18th Century. But this relationship has waned – rope and net businesses remain, but the availability of synthetic fibres has weakened demand for traditional hemp and flax. Yet the use of these natural materials in construction is growing around UK and the rest of the world, and there is huge potential for reviving the historic cultural and productive links between the town, these fibres and their use. Planting of hemp and flax and investment in processing capacity will enable the production of high-quality, ecological components for use in construction.

Rural Councils Leading on co-design and co-production with CLTs

In 2019, the Ministry for Homes Communities and Local Government’s Communities Framework set out Government’s vision for strengthening communities, encouraging all practitioners to adopt “commissioning strategies that are co-designed with communities” and to “build capacity in communities for future delivery” [1]

Co-design and co-production in the built environment is about a developer (public or private) working with a community group, listening and sharing power, even if the actual development expertise may be one-sided. [2]

Anna Hope, Director of Ecomotive, a CLH and self-build consultancy - and an experienced and well respected expert in the field - recently set out what differentiates community led housing, and the role the public sector can play

CLH is about more than housing: it’s a route of delivery for integrated social value across a range of key areas, and in that there is a crucial role for public-sector bodies to play.
The best examples of CLH emerge where local authorities understand and actively embrace the role of communities as key partners.
Relationships between all parties depend on trust. Trust is founded on clear expectations, mutual respect and development of a clear framework within which everyone participates.

East Devon District Council with Beer CLT

East Devon District Council has a good relationship with Beer CLT, having supported it with a development loan of over £1m in 2013. Beer CLT made all repayments on or ahead of time, prompting the council to pass on a further short-term loan from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB), enabling the group to build out a second scheme of seven homes in 2018.

At the time, PWLB interest rates were low, so the council was able to apply a small fee on top of the loan, generating revenue. And even with the fees and interest rates, this route was still cheaper for Beer CLT than borrowing via mainstream or social lenders.

Cornwall Council and Cornwall CLT

Cornwall Council and Cornwall CLT jointly operate a £4m revolving loan fund for CLTs. The Council use their borrowing powers to provide loan funding at cost to local CLTs for use as short term development finance, either for the purchase of land or property or for construction. The loan interest rate is 4.1% to ensure cost neutrality to the Council. The revolving loan fund was initially for £1m, but was extended to £4m in recognition of the important role CLTs play in the provision of intermediate housing. Since March 2014, Cornwall CLT has supported the development of 126 affordable homes in ten local CLTs with a further potential pipeline of 140 homes [3].

East Cambridgeshire District Council

With traditional providers failing to build, CLTs were seen as offering a way to bring forward affordable housing with community support. The District Council provided start-up funding to CLTs in the district (matching the national CLT Fund grants available) and have funded the secondment of a specialist adviser to the regional CLT umbrella, East Cambs Community Housing, who provide one-to-one technical support to start up CLT groups in the District (of which there are now 10). In addition, where the New Homes Bonus applies to CLT homes, the Bonus is given by the Council to the CLT to help finance the early years of management of their project.

The Council has actively championed CLTs with a specific policy for community-led development in the local plan (pg 40), as well as supplementary planning guidance [4] on the policy. The policy permits affordable housing outside the development envelope as an exception to normal policy where certain criteria are met, including that the scheme has been initiated by, or is being led by, a legitimate local community group, such as a parish council or CLT.

What Support do Communities Need to Deliver Community Led Housing?

In 2019, LB Croydon promised to make five council-owned sites available for CLH bids via the Small Sites, Small Builders portal. Ahead of the bids opening, LB Croydon ran a free workshop for Croydon residents. The workshop was designed to galvanise interest and demystify the process for people with no experience or prior knowledge of CLH, providing an overview of CLH and available sites, and signposting support and training.

In an approach regarded as best practice, LB Croydon also published detailed information on the scoring criteria for bids ahead of time: a valuable resource for both interested groups and other councils beginning the process. Producing the scoring criteria had wider benefit for the council, helping teams to think through what they understand as social value. This is just one example (from Future of London) but there are many others. A dedicated blog post will look at how best how we might create the conditions to support more community led development in future.

Specialist CLT Advice

There are various advisors who have supported the development of the sector and who offer specialist advice to CLTs, these include organisations like ECA, who are a Neighbourhood Planning Champion' for Locality.

In our region, currently, the advisor of choice is Wessex CLT who are extensively referenced in this blog and who have supported many people to get their CLT projects from pipe dream to reality - and, on the doorstep, are supporting Salcombe Community Land Trust as they embark on their community led housing journey.

Middlemarch Associates partner with Wessex CLT with a mission to help establish a thriving community-led housing group in every community. To date their achievements include

CLTs incorporated: 41
Housing schemes completed: 16
Housing schemes in progress: 32
Homes completed and in progress: c.500
Income to communities from projects completed or in progress (index linked): c. £17m over 125 years
Asset value of homes completed or in progress (at cost): c. £100m
6 consecutive years of Devon Rural Housing Partnership awards plus, in 2018, 2 inaugural National CLT Network awards.
Regular coverage on the BBC, in the regional press, and in community housing sector publications.
The engagement of 17 local authorities and 9 housing associations in supporting CLTs.

Finance

Banks are also included in the range of organisations that offer specialist advice. Some ethical banks fund community-led housing groups as part of their commitment to promoting affordable and sustainable housing solutions. Bids are assessed on 80% quality and 20% cost. Within ‘cost’, marks are awarded for sound viability work and a sustainable financial model, rather than basing decisions solely on the offer of cash for land. Within ‘quality’, proposals are scored on topics including community engagement, governance and management, allocations, plans for construction and design, social value and inclusion.

Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust put together a short film featuring tips from the four main lenders (Unity Trust bank, Ecology Building Society, Charity Bank and Triodos bank) who all have expertise in lending to CLTs. For example, Triodos offer loans of up to £10m for the development or purchase of new homes and advises groups on negotiating obstacles and raising further capital - here lenders they discuss what they expect to see in CLT mortgage applications

CAF Venturesome also fund CLTs and have funded Cornwall CLT, an Umbrella organisation, over a number of years.

In conclusion

Reviewing the growing and vibrant community led housing sector both close to home and around the country, it seems that SHDC’s wariness of genuine community led schemes, and their preference to keep both control and cash within the council, is ill founded.

Moreover, if opportunities to pursue community led housing are not fully taken then the community here in Kingsbridge looks set to miss out on a range of tangible benefits that this approach has been proven to deliver.

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