Celebrating the CLT movement
The CLT Awards are our annual awards that celebrate the amazing things happening in CLTs across England and Wales, as well as the leaders that drive this change.
Our 6th annual CLT Awards ceremony took place at our AGM on Saturday 23rd November – read all about the winners below. Our next CLT Awards will open for nominations in Autumn 2025.
2024 CLT Awards Ceremony
Winners from 2024
Expand each category below to learn about last year’s categories and the winners!
All About Community - WeCanMake
The All About The Community award celebrates how CLTs involve, engage with, and are deeply rooted in their community. People power is at the heart of the CLT movement and the CLTs that were nominated this year are no exception!
The winning CLT has been exploring urban acupuncture for some time now and its community engagement, which has focused on unlocking microsites, brought about the community setting the rules through a co-produced design code.
This year their community engagement has broadened to explore people-powered retrofit, and they’ve created a Retrofit Street – a street-based system demonstrator, where residents prototyped what a whole street-based approach to retrofit might look like. The project has involved lots of community gatherings and special trade schools for people to share knowledge and skills, and also build trust.
We are so inspired by the work of this CLT and how they are bringing their community together and generating meaningful engagement.
And the winner is … WeCanMake!
Images by @ibolya.feher for WeCanMake
Previous winners
- 2023 | Hastings Commons
- 2022 | Newton and Noss CLT
- 2021 | Swansea Cohousing
Beautiful Community Led Homes - Hook Norton CLT
When communities are in charge of designing and building homes the likelihood of homes being just right for that place grows immensely.
The winner of this award has built 12 PassivHaus equivalent homes.
Using better-than-carbon-zero building techniques and with its cutting-edge renewable energy systems, which includes a smart electricity microgrid this project reduced its environmental impact and ensured future resilience too.
The project was understandably backed by the community which valued the proposed approach and gets to benefit from a hub with coworking spaces on site.
The project demonstrates how community led housing can enhance the social fabric while remaining environmentally conscious. Our trustee Kym who works for the developer Igloo said she would aspire to deliver something as beautiful as this project.
And the winner is … Hook Norton CLT!
Previous winners
- 2023 | Broadwindsor Group Parish CLT
- 2022 | Bradwell CLT
- 2021 | Keswick Community Housing Trust
Can't Stop, Won't Stop - Adam Land (Gŵyr CLT)
The CLT movement is full of inspirational people, and this list highlights some amazing leaders – people who’ve worked hard to empower people in their communities, and people who’ve been inspiring to their team and wider community. Narrowing it down this year to one winner as always has been very, very difficult!
The person who has won this award was declared an unsung hero of their CLT. A person whose infectious vision, dedication and tireless hard work have brought strength to the group.
Giving thousands of hours, this person has secured critical funding, making the CLT the first in Wales to access Welsh Government land grants. They’ve forged partnerships, built a talented professional team and led the discussions with council planners – always with steadfast determination.
The nomination pressed this person’s humility, generosity and ability to truly listen to others.
Our Trustee Claire White (Cwmpas) said:
“This person and the CLT as a whole have shown a massive amount of resilience to reach where they are while facing ongoing planning challenges as well as continuing to balance their work and family lives. There have been babies, unexpected house moves and changes at work but they have continued to plough their spare time into making this CLT the fantastic project that it is. This person has been front and centre helping people retain their enthusiasm and focus on the next steps to making the affordable homes they aspire to a reality.”
And the winner is …. Adam Land from Gŵyr CLT!
Previous winners
- 2023 | Morag Robertson and Jill Block, St Ives CLT
- 2022 | Fran Ryan, Oxfordshire CLT
- 2021 | Rosemary Heath Coleman, Queen Camel CLT
- 2019 | Monica King, Bridport Cohousing
- 2018 | Liz Maunder, Norton Sub Hamden
Lead Goose - Claude Hendrickson MBE and Henri Baptiste
The Lead Goose award recognises a person or CLT that has made an outstanding contribution to CLTs as a movement and as a network in the past year.
These nominees have all done something amazing for the growth of the CLT movement. But today we are honouring two people from a single CLT.
The winners of this award have brought about pioneering research into the opportunities and challenges for black and ethnically diverse community led housing. This was not easy work and they carried not only their experiences but many other difficult stories too, which they collected from other community members who have experienced racial inequality. Their efforts will bring positive changes to the sector. The CLT Network’s mission for anyone, anywhere to set up a CLT requires representation. The research and steer is critical and will help us on that journey.
Read the research here.
And the winners are….Claude Hendrickson MBE (Leeds Community Homes) and Henri Baptiste (Pathway Housing Solutions).
Previous winners
- 2023 | Razia Khanom and Alex Ingram (London CLT)
What a Wonderful World - Middle Marches CLT
This award celebrates a CLT that recognises the importance of sustainability. The CLT movement can – and is – delivering projects of huge importance and together we can set the standard for a future way of living in a time of climate crisis.
The CLT movement has changed a lot over the past 15 years. And while housing is the predominant motivator for groups this isn’t always the case and we are seeing more and more CLTs taking on the community ownership of land and buildings for other reasons.
The winner of this award is doing that. Since its formation in 2019 this CLT has managed to buy three pieces of land making it – in size of the area – the largest landowner CLT in England. And it will hopefully be completing soon on a fourth parcel of land – a site that is home to rare orchids.
The winner of this award is showcasing how CLTs can protect and manage land for nature and local community wellbeing.
And the winner is … Middle Marches CLT!
Previous winners
- 2023 | Lune Valley CLT
- 2022 | Swaffham Prior CLT
- 2021 | Hook Norton CLT
- 2019 | South Downs Eco CLT
Spotlight on - Aster Housing Group
This year we also shone a spotlight on Aster Housing Group – a longstanding supporter and partner of CLTs.
Aster, an RP based in the south of England, manages over 36,000 homes and is one of the top 10 developers delivering affordable housing in the sector. And with a goal to deliver 10,000 new homes over seven years, Aster has made community led housing an integral part of its vision.
Through their dedicated community led housing team, Aster has successfully delivered 13 CLT schemes, with many more in the pipeline. They’ve also demonstrated unmatched innovation by deploying grants and funds to enable affordable housing in challenging locations like National Parks, National Landscapes and Heritage Coasts.
From being a strategic partner with Homes England to mentoring other RPs nationwide, Aster has set a gold standard in collaboration for other housing associations. Their work with Transition Homes Totnes, transforming an ambitious vision into a reality of 100% affordable housing, exemplifies their commitment to enabling local communities to achieve their mission.
Aster’s partnership model shows how the sensitivity of local communities and the expertise of a strategic housing provider can work together to create meaningful change. Thank you, Aster, for your dedication to addressing housing challenges with passion, innovation, and care. Here’s to many more successes in the years to come!
Nominees from 2024
Every year we receive many extraordinary nominations from CLTs. Every single individual and organisation who received a nomination deserves a huge amount of recognition for the hard work they put into their community and the CLTs movement:
Nominees: All About Community |
Nominees: Beautiful Community Led Homes – Ringmer Area CLT – Shepherdswell and Coldred CLT – Hook Norton CLT
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Nominees: Lead Goose |
Nominees: What a Wonderful World |
Nominees: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop |
Nominees: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Cont. |
CLT Awards Categories
Take a look at our 5 CLT Awards Categories.
A word about geese
We award the winners of the CLT awards with a wooden goose and ‘honk’ to show our approval.
This is to reflect on the spectacular sight of geese flying together in a V formation. Each bird flies slightly above the bird in front of them, reducing wind resistance and take take turns being the leader.
Just as the birds fly together to chart the path and make it easier for those after them, individual CLTs and their leaders inspire and motivate others. In the CLT movement, CLTs take turns to lead, to support others, and the others ‘honk’ encouragement to the leader.
And all this means we can all carry on delivering on the things our communities want and need for longer!