Initially, the process of establishing a Community Land Trust can seem daunting but we are here to help along the way. Below we have identified 12 of the most common questions we are asked. For more information or help with your project, just get in touch.
1. What is a Community Land Trust?
A CLT is a non-profit, community-based organisation run by volunteers to develop housing, workspaces or other assets that may be required to address a need in their local area. The income stream generated from the assets is protected and used to benefit present and future generations within the community.
2. Why do people set up a CLT?
There can be a number of reasons. Usually the stimulus is a desire to create affordable homes that available to local people who cannot afford open market housing. However, once they have established a CLT and delivered their first project, local people often feel empowered to take on whatever the next challenge might be that faces their community, perhaps purchasing the local pub when it is about to close, or setting up a community shop. Why not take a look at one of our videos and hear from people that have already done it.
3. How do you define your local community?
It is up to the members of the CLT to determine what community the trust will seek to serve. Usually it relates to people that live and work, or want to live and work within a defined geographical area, perhaps a number of local parishes or an urban neighbourhood.
4. How does a CLT create affordability?
To create affordability a CLT needs to receive initial subsidy in one form or another; be it free land, or financial grants from government, charities or benefactors. Once properties have been built, the land on which they are built on is protected from fluctuations in land market valuations by a legal ‘asset lock’ that is a fundamental part of all the CLT structure. By separating the value of the building from the land that it stands on, occupiers of CLT properties can pay rent for their use of the building at levels that are permanently affordable (usually no more than one third of their income).
5. Do CLTs just offer homes for rent?
No. CLTs usually have wider ambitions than to just provide affordable homes for rent. They set out to address local housing needs, whatever that need may be. It might be a family is seeking to buy a share in their home, or an elderly person seeking to downsize to more appropriate accommodation, freeing up a larger family home in the process.
6. What about more innovative housing models?
CLTs are also providing opportunities for self-builders, mutual homes ownership and co-housing schemes. The latter are very prevalent in continental Europe and there is growing interest in their development in the UK as an alternative to traditional mortgage based options. Land owned by a CLT is the perfect place to try out some of these new ideas.
7. How is the land protected from being transferred into state or private ownership in the future?
CLTs hold their assets in perpetuity but, as Woody Allen once said, ‘Perpetuity is a long time, especially when you get near to the end’, so CLTs do need to have the flexibility to respond to future circumstance, perhaps by selling a home if there is no longer a need for it. However, the CLTs legal ‘asset lock’ dictates that assets can only be sold or developed in a manner which benefits the local community. So if a home is sold the cash realised is protected by the asset lock so that it can be re-invested into something else that the trust’s members think will benefit the local community.
8. How are CLTs run?
CLTs are locally driven, controlled and democratically accountable. They have a membership that is open to all who live or work in the defined community, including occupiers of the properties that the Trust owns. The members elect a volunteer board to run the trust on their behalf on a day to day basis. Usually, the board comprises a balanced mix of supportive local residents, tenants and employers; people from the wider area with useful skills to offer; and additional stakeholders that seek to preserve the integrity of the trust (perhaps local authority representatives, or those who endow land or property to the trust).
9. What if we don’t have enough people with the right skills?
We understand that volunteer time is limited and that CLTs can be complex organizations to run. That is why we have developed the infrastructure to nurture and support CLTs as they start out, and to help develop the capacity of local trusts to manage their own affairs.
A National CLT Network exists to provide online guidance, signposting and learning opportunities at regional and national seminars and workshops. This network has also recognised Foundation East as the regional provider of dedicated support and technical advice for local groups setting up a CLT in the East of England. To find out more about the support we can offer click here.
10. How does a CLT get hold of land?
CLTs get land in a number of ways. They can:
In practice, we find that access to land is rarely the problem that it might be perceived to be. Once landowners understand the principles of community asset ownership that are embodied in a CLT, they are often keen to donate some of their land to what they see as a very good cause.
11. How does a CLT get funding?
CLTs are all financed in different ways and the final balance of funding will depend on local circumstances and what the objectives of the trust are. From the outset we can help you to identify the likely sources of funding but they are likely to come from any number of the following sources:
Pre-development funding may be available from The CLT Fund, Local authorities, Parish Councils or donations from within your local community;
The CLT Fund and Local authorities may also be able to help to provide finance to develop the buildings. Alternatives might include ethical lenders such as Triodos Bank, government subsidy through the Homes and Communities Agency or the local community via share issues or other fundraising initiatives.
12. We are interested in providing a housing scheme for local people but we don’t want to be involved in the complexity of day to day management.
That’s fine, every local group differs in what it is seeking to achieve. Some of the most successful CLTs have benefited from partnering with housing associations to develop and/or manage their homes. There are a number of different arrangements that can be used and we can advise on who might be a good local partner and how best to structure the relationship.
How can I find out more about CLTs?
The CLT Network website is a great source of detailed information about CLTs. Click on the logo below to be directed through to their website.
Or if you have a specific project in the East of England (Essex, Herts, Beds, Cambs, Suffolk, Norfolk) then contact us to see how we can help.
