Homes at the Heart – launch letter
The National Housing Federation has launched a campaign to invest in social housing, supported by a wide cross-section of housing sector. Here is an open letter they have sent to the Government. Dear Chancellor We are writing to urge you to put good quality, affordable housing at the heart of your plans for social and economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. This pandemic has transformed...
After the Plague – Better Housing?
Within a week of the 1666 Great Fire of London, Christopher Wren had presented his master plan for rebuilding the City to King Charles II. It will come as no surprise that little of Wren’s scheme, apart from the widening of some main streets, was ever implemented. What are the lessons of Covid-19 and will we see any changes as a result? Firstly, there is an observed correlation between...
Emerging from Covid-19 – what happens next?
Despite lockdown, HCLT has being pushing ahead with its mission to find suitable sites to build affordable, sustainable homes in Hereford. As the restrictions ease and the focus turns to restarting the economy, it is a good time to recap on the benefits that the CLT approach brings to society. The Co-Chief Executive of National Community Land Trust Network has just published a blog setting...
Date for your diaries – the Future of the High Street
The Future of the High Street - a Left Bank Village Event Date for your diaries - Wednesday 17 June 2020 7.30pm on the Left Bank talks web-site, the second in the series “High Town and beyond” where there will be discussions on the high street as not just an economic retail area but also as a vital invaluable social hub. Some say the High Street is on the way out. Shall we just take the path of...
Design Brief – access to document
Design Brief can be accessed through this link; Design Brief v4
Happy Birthday NCLT
2020 marks the ten year anniversary for the National CLT Network, the central organisation for the 300 CLTS across England and Wales. CLTs have succeeded in villages, towns and cities, working with housing associations, developers, councils or alone, blending community ownership, cohousing and custom build, resulting in 500 new homes being built, with a further 23,000 more in the pipeline. CLTs...
What’s the point of the Green Belt?
Phineas Harper, writing in ICON magazine, reviews the history and makes the case for green belts around cities. His brief history starts with an idea in 1829 to create 4 concentric circles of urban area and “breathing spaces” around London. Unsurprisingly enough this didn’t happen, but the concept was adapted in new cities in Australia and the USA. His argument that every urban space needs to...
Community Land Trusts – a success story from Liverpool
'We don’t want to sit back and accept things being done to us. We say stop, say no, and change the situation for the better.’ This quote, from a member of the Homebaked CLT steering group, is the key to the contribution that CLTs are making to their local communities. Homebaked Community Land Trust was born in April 2012 with the aim of refurbishing the closed Mitchell’s bakery building to...
HCLT in the news
Herefordshire Green Network posted a profile of HCLT on their website last week - see link: https://hgnetwork.org/focus-on-hereford-community-land-trust/ Herefordshire Green Network has grown out of grass-roots action, and its local significance is due to the respected grass-roots activity of its Members. HGN is a lightly constituted, not-for-profit organisation whose vision is a resilient low...
Ever Lived in a Community Housing Scheme?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has commissioned research from the London School of Economics and the universities of Bristol, Lancaster and Northumbria into whether community-led housing plays a role in combating loneliness. As part of this research, they are conducting an online survey of individuals involved in CLH, which will gather information about how residents...