useful links
Community-led housing network & case study links.
Here are some useful links that will provide more information on the various options for community housing, categorised under the following headings:
​
​
Please note that we are not responsible for the content of external websites. We'd appreciate your feedback and recommendations for other links, plus if you find any broken or inappropriate links, we'd really appreciate it if you could let us know by emailing us.
Thank you.
​
last checked/edited: 19 November 2020
​
​
Networks
​
CLH Tootlkit
Helping housing professionals scale up the supply of community-led homes. Although not specifically aimed at community organisations, the Toolkit may also be useful for groups interested in pursuing a community-led housing scheme, providing them with an understanding of the technical requirements and processes involved.
​
​
Community Led Homes
With there being so many different ways of doing community led housing, this partnership between the Confederation of Co-operative housing, Locality, the National Community Land Trust Network and UK Cohousing offers a first point of contact for people interested in community housing.
​
​
Confederation of Co-operative Housing
The CCH promotes work done by the various co‑operative and mutual housing organisations, improving communication between its members and serving the sector, campaigning for quality co-operative solutions to meet housing need in England and Wales. Here is a link to their Toolkit.
​
Locality
The national membership network for community organisations with four main areas of work: peer learning and connection through the membership network; resources for local people to get involved & create change in their community; specialist advice and support; and campaigning to create a better operating environment for community organisations. Here is a link to their resource library for housing.
National Community Land Trust Network
The official charity supporting Community Land Trusts in England and Wales, the network provides funding, resources, training and advice for CLTs and work with Government, local authorities, lenders and funders to establish the best conditions for CLTs to grow and flourish. Here is a link to their Handbook.
UK Cohousing
This website provides general information about cohousing (both in the UK and worldwide) with links to the UK Cohousing Trust ( to advance education for the public benefit with regards to the social and environmental impact of community housing and housing design) and the UK Cohousing Network (to promote awareness of cohousing and support the development of new cohousing communities).
​
​
The Right to Build Toolkit
Set up by the National Custom and Self Build Association this resource is aimed at self-builders, community organisations, local authorities, housing associations and private developers.
​
​
​
​
​
Regional Enabling Hubs
​
North West
​
Manchester
coming soon - a new Enabling Hub in development
​
​
​
North East
Northumberland
​
​
​
Yorkshire
York, North Yorkshire and East Riding
Reach - The Community Led Housing Hub for North Yorkshire & East Riding
​
​
​
Midlands
Birmingham
​
Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Rutland
East Midlands Community Led Housing
Herefordshire Centre for Community-Led Housing
​
​
​
East of England
Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex
​
​
​
South West
Cornwall
​
Devon, Dorset and Somerset
​
Wiltshire and Gloucestershire
Wiltshire Community Land Trust
​
Bristol, Bath, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
coming soon - a new Enabling Hub in development
​
​
​
London and the South East
London
​
East Sussex and West Sussex
​
Surrey
Surrey Community Housing Project
Brighton & Hove
​
Hampshire
coming soon - a new Enabling Hub in development
Oxfordshire
​
​
​
​
​
Finance & funding
​
Community Housing Fund (Homes England)
The government is making available £163 million across England up to 2020 to 2021 through the Community Housing Fund. Grants are allocated under two Phases: applications for revenue funding for capacity building and predevelopment costs, including revenue grants to local authorities to support community groups; and capital bids for associated infrastructure costs which will support community housing development.
​
​
Community Led Homes Start-Up Support programme
Up to £10,000 revenue funding is available to support the earliest stages of a community led housing group’s development and help community led housing projects at an early stage to explore options, to enable community led housing solutions to become a reality. The programme aims to support groups to progress their projects to become ready to apply for further pre-development revenue grants from other programmes.
​
​
Power to Change: Homes in Community Hands
Grants averaging £50,000 are available for feasibility work and pre-development costs (that we can undertake - see our services page) to create schemes that deliver a majority of permanently affordable homes for rent or sale to locally connected people. Although funds will be mostly focused in Leeds City Region, Liverpool City Region, Tees Valley City Region, West of England and West Midlands, the grants will also be available to genuinely innovative community led housing projects anywhere in England.
​
​
Triodos has been supporting community housing projects in the UK for the last 20 years, including Lilac (in our Case Studies section below). They can offer support for early stage development work such as financial modelling and helping to raise funding, but they can also provide debt finance for the actual construction work. They of course offer more traditional banking accounts once a project has been established.
​
​
​
​
​
Case studies
​
The following case studies are of completed projects that were mostly community-led, where the residents themselves were responsible for the entire process, bringing in professional consultants as and when necessary.
​
We're hoping you'll check these out for ideas and inspiration as to what can be achieved in cohousing projects. We aim to create projects of similar quality, community-focused, only simplifying and speeding up the process... making these types of developments much more commonplace.
​
​
Scotland
​
Findhorne Ecovillage, The Park, Moray
Founded in 1962, this is now the largest single intentional community in the UK with over 60 ecological buildings. The project's main aim is to demonstrate a sustainable development in environmental, social, and economic terms.
​
​
​
North West
Homes For Change, Manchester
This is a fully mutual housing Co-op that emerged from Hulme in 1987 and consists of 75 flats and a commercial element called Work for Change. The second phase of the project was completed in 2000.
​
Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust, Liverpool
Developed out of a community group that campaigned against the demolition of houses and relocation of the community. Its long term goal is to renovate all of the houses in the Granby triangle providing homes for 250 families who are either members of the original Granby community wanting to return home, or local families in housing need.
​
Lancaster Cohousing, Halton, Lancaster
A multi award winning eco cohousing community at Forgebank that consists of private homes, community facilities, workshops/offices/studios and shared outdoor space. There are around 65 adults and 15 children living in the community.
​
​
​
Yorkshire
​
LILAC, Leeds
A co-housing community of 20 eco-build households in West Leeds. The homes and land are managed by residents through a Mutual Home Ownership Society, a pioneering financial model that ensures permanent affordability. The project was completed in 2013.
​
​
​
East of England
Cannock Mill Cohousing, Colchester
A new mutually supportive cohousing group building 23 homes (a mixture of one and two-bedroom flats and 17 two and three-bedroom houses) together with a Common House in the old mill building. Started in 2007, the project is currently under construction.
​
​
Marmalade Lane, Cambridge
A sustainable neighbourhood of 42 state-of-the-art homes with community facilities and shared gardens. The project was co-designed with its members - K1 Cohousing group. The project was completed in 2018.
​
​
​
South West
​
Broadhempston CLT, Devon
Established in 2012, this CLT consists of 6 eco homes (completed in 2016) where the residents own 25% of the equity in their homes by virtue of having put in the labour (sweat equity) to build them. More information also on the Right to Build Toolkit website.
​
​
Fishponds Road, Eastville, Bristol (by Bristol CLT)
Bristol CLT’s first community-led development of 12 homes on Fishponds Road, completed in 2016, is now fully occupied and has been a resounding success, demonstrating what can be achieved. Built on land acquired from Bristol City Council, homes are a mix of shared ownership and affordable rent.
​
​
​
overseas
​
Hogeweyk, Weesp, The Netherlands
Although this is a specialised care village for people with dementia, consisting of 23 houses, theatre, supermarket, outpatient care unit and a restaurant, it perfectly embodies what community living should be about. We hope some of our own projects could specialise in the way.
​
​
A housing cooperative created as a pilot project to contribute to the ongoing debate around the development of the Spree riverbank surrounding. The result is an area of 6.000 square meters of residential and work space. Besides apartments, offices, a shared kitchen and shared community facilities, Spreefeld also provides public access to the Spree and public spaces at the riverbank: two-thirds of the site remain unbuilt to allow for public uses.
​
​
​
​
​