How do we build up the community-led housing sector?

What is community-led housing? Basically there are four main types – co-operative housing, co-housing, self-help housing and community land trusts.

Today, the sector is small in the UK compared with our neighbours on the near continent, and more needs to be done if it is to become mainstream including more support from government. A report from the Smith Institute, a left-of-centre think tank set up in memory of the late Labour leader John Smith, looks at some of the issues involved.

The report, Local housing, community living, asks how the community-led housing sector can be expanded either by scaling up or scaling out. In plain English, do we expand the sector by increasing the size of the existing players (scaling up) or increase the number of players in the field (scaling out)?

One does not necessarily preclude the other. The report, based on in-depth research, surveys and interviews, found that many of the schemes have been successful. They have been built to high standards and are genuinely affordable to people on modest incomes.

In recent years, there has been a substantial growth in the number of co-operative housing schemes in England and Wales. Many of these will be new-build while others will be tenant management organisations (TMCs).

Community housing mutuals and co-ops formed from voluntary stock transfer from local council housing stock have also been an important development – particularly in Wales where the Welsh government and the Wales Co-operative Centre have promoted several schemes.

In Rochdale, Salford and Merthyr Tydfil stock transfer schemes have progressed from being arms-length management organisations to fully fledged hybrid co-ops – that is, co-ops made up of tenants and staff.

More are likely to be in the pipeline. Westminster policy makers should learn from such developments, especially in Wales.

Co-housing schemes are similar to co-operative housing ones, only they are usually set up as ‘intentional communities’. They are about creating inclusive communities which belong to their residents. Everyone has their own front door key but residents manage the estate, share activities, eat together, etc.

Co-housing can be a way of combating the loneliness and isolation many people experience today. Where they differ from ordinary housing co-ops is that socialisation is obligatory; this might not suit everyone.

In the past, most co-housing schemes occupied large houses which had been converted into flats. Recently, new-build schemes have been set up. Lancaster Co-housing consists of 42 Passivhaus homes which are mainly leasehold.

It includes communal cooking and dining areas and a communal car pool. It was forward-funded by the members together with a loan from the Triodos Bank. Some members obtained mortgages through the Ecology Building Society. Visit www.lancastercohousing.org.uk to learn more.

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Another innovative scheme is the LILAC (Low Impact Living Affordable Community) in Leeds, which uses the mutual home ownership model. The scheme comprises 20 homes and a common house constructed using low carbon materials such as timber and straw. It is an eco-scheme which is partly self funded and partly by the HCA, the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Leeds City Council. Visit www.lilac.coop to learn more.

One change in the law which would help community-led projects which use community land trusts relates to leasehold. The purpose of a community land trust is to take land out of the market place and make it available in perpetuity for the benefit of the community.

The land could be gifted by local authorities, public bodies, local benefactors or charitable organisations. At the moment, potential donors of land can be reluctant to gift land because of their concern that the land might be sold off at a later date to private individuals for private gain.