In order for anyone, anywhere to be able to set up and run a CLT to manage community assets, the community led housing movement will need the support of every council in England and Wales.
The support of local authorities is essential for community led housing groups to access funding, planning permissions and land disposals to progress their projects.
The movement has been gaining ground, thanks to the community led housing groups who’ve built strong relationships with their councils and raised the profile of the movement as a viable route for delivering much-needed affordable housing.
How local authorities can support CLH
SUPPORTIVE POLICIES
Policies in place to foster CLH
GRANTS AND LOANS
Financial support to help CLH projects get started
LAND DISPOSALS AND LEASES
Using council resources to give groups access to sites
DEDICATED STAFF
Council staff with expertise and space to focus on CLH
What are the current levels of support?
Research published in April 2022 by the Community Land Trust Network reveals the strong levels of local authority support for community led housing development in England and Wales, with 1 in 2 councils who responded actively supporting CLH. See more takeaways from the research below.
This data comes from responses to our Freedom of Information requests to all councils in England and Wales, following on from the same research carried out in 2019 and 2021.
Local authority support for CLH in numbers
councils actively support CLH
councils with supportive policies
councils have awarded grants/loans
increase in number of grants/loans since 2019
of councils have disposed of/leased land to groups
What groups can do
We go to the polls on 5th May 2022 to elect local councillors across England and Wales. If you’re a CLH group, check if there are elections in your area and find the names and contact details of all the candidates on your council website. Elections are a great time to get community led housing on your local political agenda.
You can check your council’s responses and then lobby all the candidates, asking what they will do if elected to support you and more community led housing in your area. It’s more than just being supportive of CLTs in general – it’s also about policy and practical support, around issues like financing, land, support for hubs, neighbourhood plans, planning policy and more. All the resources you need can be found in our Local Advocacy CLT Handbook!
What local authorities can do
If you’re a local authority looking to provide more support for local community led housing projects, contact your local enabling hub or the Community Land Trust Network to start a conversation. You can also access the Community Led Homes toolkit developed for local authorities and consider our associate memberships for local authorities.
Become a member today
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