Bristol CLT launches opening event for affordable community housing

bristol | community | press release Thursday January 20, 2011 13:28 by James Deane Jackson at ecomotive dot org

Bristol CLT launches opening event for affordable community housing

For many people in Bristol, high house prices and lack of mortgage finance mean that owning or renting a decent home is still just a dream. Now the recently-launched Bristol CLT offers an alternative route to home ownership or rental, by involving the local community as well as future residents in the design and construction of affordable homes.

The Bristol CLT, an umbrella organisation set up to promote Community Land Trusts in Bristol, will host its opening event from 3 to 7pm on Wednesday 3rd February at Hamilton House on Stokes Croft. The event is free and open to anyone who is interested in affordable homes, self-build or community-led delivery of housing in Bristol.

A Community Land Trust is a non-profit organisation that owns assets such as land and buildings and holds them for the benefit of a particular community or area. CLTs can be used to provide affordable housing that is controlled by members of the local community, rather than by a housing association.

Bristol City Council has agreed to provide finance to support a pilot CLT scheme with two possible locations being Fishponds Road, Eastville and Victoria Park Baptist Church, Bedminster. Homes could be sold on an equity-share basis, for example, at around 50-70% of market value. An element of self-build may be included in the project, reducing the costs of home ownership even further.

Bristol is already recognised as a leader in community-led self-build, with the Ashley Vale development in St Werburghs being awarded the prestigious Building For Life Award in 2010 – the first self-build scheme in the country to receive this accolade.

The pilot project is aimed at first-time buyers on average or low incomes, although it may also include affordable rented accommodation. One of the proposed schemes may include an element of cohousing, where small private dwellings are grouped around shared communal facilities.

The Bristol CLT will hold two short presentations at its opening event, at 3pm and 6pm, to show draft designs for each of the sites. It is hoped the event will attract potential residents, those wanting a say in how the homes are designed and managed, and people with ideas for future CLT projects across Bristol.

Community Land Trusts are established in communities to acquire land or other fixed assets and then hold them in perpetuity for the benefit of the local community. They work on a non-profit basis, accessing public, private and charitable finance and tapping into the resources of their community to provide and manage affordable housing, workspace, community buildings and assets and green space.

CLTs work by enabling occupiers to pay for the use of buildings and services at prices they can afford, while the value of land, subsidies, planning gain and other equity benefits are permanently locked in, on behalf of them and future occupiers, by the Community Land Trust.

The Bristol CLT was set up in 2010 by a project group including Bristol City Council, Ecomotive (a social enterprise promoting affordable and sustainable housing through self-build) and Wessex Community Assets (experts on CLTs), and other members of the Bristol community. Anyone in Bristol with an interest in community-led affordable housing can become a member of the Bristol CLT for only £1.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps recently announced a boost for community-led housing delivery via the Government’s proposed Community Right To Build, which would allow communities more control over new housing in their own neighbourhoods. He highlighted Bristol’s Ashley Vale development as an example of good practice.

The opening event is from 3 to 7 pm on Thursday 3rd February 2011 at Hamilton House, 80 Stokes Croft, BS1 3QY. Attendees will be able to browse displays and talk to experts and Bristol CLT representatives about the potential projects, with short presentations being given at 3pm and 6pm.

For more information, contact Jackson Moulding at HYPERLINK "mailto:Jackson@ecomotive.org" Jackson@ecomotive.org or 0117 9241263. See also HYPERLINK "http://www.ecomotive.org" www.ecomotive.org and HYPERLINK "http://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk" www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk.