We provide start-up support and expert, unbiased advice to volunteers, parish and town councils in the East of England that are seeking to progress community-led developments in their neighbourhood using the Community Land Trust model.
We are independent of government and work on a not for profit basis on behalf of local communities. We are recognised by the National CLT Network as the sub-regional support body for Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk.
We are also accredited as a technical advisor to the CLT Fund, a charitable fund that can provides financial help with grants and loans to CLTs.
New legislation is making it easier for local people to have a greater say over what happens in their neighbourhood. In response, some communities are deciding that they want their village or town to grow, provided they retain influence over what type of growth occurs and where, when and how it is delivered.
A Community Land Trust can provide the vehicle to make it happen. CLTs can be established to respond to local needs by providing a way for local people to own and manage land or buildings that will benefit of their community.
However, not all communities have the necessary range of skills and attributes and volunteer time to commit to setting up a complex organisation such as a CLT which requires legal, financial, technical and social inputs. That is why we set up our regional support service and we are now working with a number of communities from the East of England are setting up their own CLTs.
