community led housing london

Levent Kerimol

Crystal Palace CLT submits planning

Crystal Palace CLT is made up of local people who aim to acquire land to provide affordable homes, workspace and other community assets in consultation with local residents.

Following Croydon Council’s release of a small site for community led housing, the Crystal Palace Transition Town Community came together to establish a Community Land Trust (CLT). The Transition Town network is a movement addressing community issues and promoting sustainable ways of living.

They were selected preferred bidders for The Lawns site in Upper Norwood with an environmental scheme at discounted market sale and community gardens. The journey has been complicated due to challenges faced by Croydon Council stalling progress, but after 4 years of hard work from volunteers, supported by CLH London advisers, the planning proposal for their first development at The Lawns has gone live.

The Community Land Trust volunteers worked closely with the community, and their architects, Archio, to develop a design listening to feedback. They came up with proposals which include 7 homes on a site that the council’s arms-length developer had considered too difficult.

The project also improves the turning head at the end of the road with 7 car parking spaces, and a landscaped green area which promotes biodiversity and community gardening.

The CLT plans to offer these homes at below 70% of market value, as they are a non-profit organisation, and any surplus from the community land trust project will go towards discounted sales prices and other community projects.

The Trust is also committed to combining sustainability and affordability. The new homes will be built to high environmental standards to reduce the impact on the planet, making them easier to heat in winter and to keep cool in summer, thereby helping to reduce energy bills for residents.

Community Led Housing London supported initial incorporation and provided funding to review the viability and legal structure of the project. We have helped with getting architects and project managers on board and advised on community engagement. After working with the council’s development managers for a period, we helped the group recruit their own. Our advisers have provided ongoing mentoring in shaping the development and agreeing the land transaction and development agreement.

 

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Cohousing drinks with Chuck Durrett

The American architect and co-author of what’s been called the “cohousing bible”, Charles (Chuck) Durrett, is visiting London for the UK Cohousing Summit.

We’re going to be catching up with him on Tuesday 26 September for drinks and food, and we wanted to invite anyone interested in cohousing to join us for an informal evening in a central London location, to compare projects and plans with others.

Please let us know if you’d like to join us and catch up with others in community led housing by emailing info@communityled.homes to receive updates.

 

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Lambeth Self Help submit planning

Lambeth Self Help have submitted planning applications on two microsites in the borough. 

The designs produced by Chance de Silva Architects show what is possible with clever design to make the most of very small spaces whilst still meeting space standards and contributing positively to the streetscape. The new homes will allow existing co-op members to downsize into attractive and accessible new homes, allowing new households from the Council’s waiting list to be accommodated in larger existing properties.

Lambeth Self Help is a fully mutual housing co-operative, representing the interests of members since the 1970s. The co-op worked with CLH London to review their development strategy and select a suitable professional team, and have also received advice on planning and delivery.

This will be a significant project for Lambeth Self Help, who own a number of Victorian street properties in the borough. It comes alongside an environmental retrofit programme they led for other homes, which secured government funding.

 

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Site approved for Brent CLT

Brent Council Cabinet has approved plans to look at Brentfield Road in Stonebridge as the site for new homes.
Plans were brought forward by the Brent Community Land Trust, a group made up of local residents, who are supported by Community Led Housing London, in their ambitions to provide affordable housing across the whole of the borough.

If the project secures planning permission, it would transform a small parking lot and eight disused garages into much-needed homes for Brent residents. All of the homes would be priced at an affordable rent in line with the average local income for people already living in the area.

Atara Fridler, Chair of Brent CLT, said: “We’re so pleased to be working with Brent Council and the local community to realise our vision of delivering much-needed homes in Brent. We can’t wait to see how a community led approach to the design, planning and management of homes at this site can help us deliver more affordable housing for local people controlled by local people.”

Brent CLT is exploring designs that would maximise use of the site, recognising how difficult it is for those with low incomes to secure affordable housing in the private rented sector.

Cllr Promise Knight, Cabinet Member for Housing, Homelessness and Renters’ Security, said: “This is the first, exciting step in Brent CLT’s journey towards providing genuinely affordable homes for Brent residents.
“I am looking forward to seeing how this project progresses in its engagement with the local community who will be invited to share their ideas throughout the design, planning and construction stages.”

 
Brent CLT was established in 2020 and is an independent, not for profit, membership organisation. You can find out more about Brent CLT and register for updates on how to get involved on www.brentclt.org.uk

 

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Power Sharing: Coproduction in Practice

We held a launch workshop for our recently published framework for Coproduction in Housing and Regeneration on 21 April. There was a great turnout from across sectors including housing associations, resident groups, local authorities and independent housing practitioners. It was covered by Inside Housing. Diving into what it means to share power and put coproduction into practice in new development projects or  in the management of existing places, led to thought provoking and enthusiastic discussion. The outcomes are already influencing how we’re working, and the support we’re providing. Here are some reflections from the day that we’ve found particularly insightful.

There is lots of interest!
It was clear from the conversations throughout the morning that there is a real interest in finding a different way for local authorities, housing associations and others to work with residents and communities, and that learning from each other will be key to building capacity within relevant sectors. Stay tuned or get in touch for more on this!

One tool of many
Coproduction has the potential to diversify access to, and involvement in, decision-making (especially when there is an explicit focus on sharing power and building trust). However it is not a panacea, and should be considered as one of a number of measures (including organising and education) for addressing barriers to access, particularly among those whose voices are traditionally most excluded from housing and regeneration processes.

From ‘power over’ to ‘power with’
Acknowledging the multiple understandings of power that exist, coproduction can be seen as the effort of housing providers and others to move from a position of having “power over” communities, to having “power with” communities to affect change and innovate the way projects and services are delivered.

Leadership buy-in
A key challenge to implementing effective coproduction is securing buy-in at director and management level. This requires being able to clearly articulate coproduction’s value across an organisation and demonstrating this with existing projects and case studies. This is something we’re already working on, so get in touch if you’d like more info!

Coproduction workshop

How we can help

We learn by doing. We’re currently working on a number of projects to put these ideas into practice and are looking for more organisations to partner with. Our projects range from regeneration and development to housing services and management. Below is a summary of how we can support your organisation to deliver effective coproduction. Do get in touch if you would like to know more!

Initiating new or evaluating existing coproduction processes
Whether you’re at the start of a process or halfway through, we use practical tools to help establish and review practices around governance and accountability, roles and responsibilities, collaborative practice, collective decision-making and more.

Ongoing support
We provide ongoing support to enable effective coproduction throughout the course of a project or process. The type of support varies depending on what’s required and can range from independent chairing and facilitating of steering groups to ongoing mentoring or tailored training and capacity building.

Building long-term social value
As well as transforming projects and service delivery, we want to see coproduction used to initiate new models of community management, stewardship and ownership of homes, businesses and neighbourhoods. There’s plenty of examples of this out there, so get in touch if you’d like to find out more!

 

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