London Community Land Trust
London, United Kingdom Construction and Development, Economic sustainability, Local social sustainability, Target groups of housing
Description
Community Land Trusts (CLTs) come in many different shapes and sizes, but are all set up and
run by local people to develop and manage homes as well as other assets important to that
community. London CLT in particular currently delivers genuinely and permanently affordable
homes to buy, offering up one model to address the growing gap in the housing market between
people who qualify for a council property and people who can afford to buy their own home.
Context
Decent, secure and affordable homes are getting harder and harder to come by in London. Local authority waiting lists are in the tens of thousands, the private rented sector is insecure and under-regulated and average house prices are at thirteen times the average income. Many Londoners are being forced to choose between living in poor housing, or leaving their friends, family and community for good.
Three quarters of Londoners now agree that London needs more affordable homes. There is also a political consensus, with the Mayor of London and most local authorities making affordable housing a priority. However, there is less consensus about what the word ‘affordable’ truly means, or about how to build the homes. There remains a substantial gulf between the powers that be attempting to deliver the homes London needs, and local residents who feel dramatic change is being forced upon them and their neighbours without their say.
Issues tackled
London Community Land Trust bridges that gulf by working with teams of local residents to create truly and permanently affordable homes that are owned and run by local people; putting Londoners back in charge of how our neighbourhoods change.
Actors involved
- https://www.londonclt.org/stakeholders
Actions carried out
- First CLT (community land trust) built and inhabited in London in Tower Hamlets borough
- Three additional sites secured with projects underway at different stages of progress
- Multiple locally led campaigns across London are ongoing to get access to more sites for more CLTs
Results
23 Affordable homes in London built and inhabited by over 70 residents
Resident led management group established to run homes
Funds paid into the land trust to be used for community good (e.g. currently plans for a community space being organised at the first CLT site)
Locals involved in campaigning have gained skills and developed personally as part of involvement
Members of London CLT are representative of the local areas involved – i.e. it is a democratic organisation
Why it works
Genuinely And Permanently Affordable Homes: London CLT homes are priced according to local earnings, ensuring that people are no longer priced out of the neighbourhood they grew up in. ‘Local earnings’ are taken as the average of median incomes using data published by the Office for National Statistics in November each year. CLT homes are about providing people with a home, not just an asset. The contract signed upon moving in makes sure that all residents have to sell the home to the next household again at a price according to local earnings. This means the homes can be sold on again at a similarly affordable level every time a new family moves in.
Scale
local
https://www.londonclt.org/