‘New Solutions for Housing and Regeneration’Centre for Housing Research

University of St Andrews4 July 2013

SEMINAR NOTES

Bringing ‘community’ building into the mainstream : mixing old

tenures for a new paradigm

Dr Martin Field

Institute for Urban Affairs, University of Northampton

martin.field@northampton.ac.uk

Prevailing paradigm : ‘individualistic investment’1

• Currently @ 69% of UK residential property is owner-occupied• PRS fastest growing sector investment vehicle, but note annual 7 - 10% of ‘self build’ properties as accumulative % of new properties• 85% of respondents still see ‘home ownership’ as prime priority• Less than 10,000 properties ‘co-operatively owned / managed’ from @ 24 million in UK (www.cds.coop)• Approximately 250 properties in Land Trusts – 500+ projects; 200+ Cohousing dwellings.

‘Housing’ happens wherever we build it…..We can build it if you invest in us…..

You can invest in us if you believe in us …..To believe in us just see what we have done …..

What we’ve done is down to our skills …..Our skills are down to our planning …..

Our planning is down to our business …..Our business is building…..

Our building happens to be ‘housing’……___________________________Source: Community Project, Sussex

___________________________

Source: Community Project, Sussex

Paradigmatic refrain:

Paradigmatic features :

Contemplating the ‘mutual’ characteristic2

• Keen interest in mutual values : equity, equality and inclusion

• Headlining reports and National Action Plans (x2)

• Mutual Sector liaisons / self build success

• New DCLG ‘Loan fund’ / local authority sector loans / guarantees

___________________________Source: Cannon Frome, Herefords

Story 2a : Niche and fragmentary___________________________

Source: Thundercliffe Grange, Yorkshire

• Principally seen as co-ops and ‘social housing’

• Some schemes too ‘middle class’ for state support

• New groups ‘high risk’ : no post-recession bail-out funds; DCLG ‘Loan’ funds to developers

• Expensive / political / limited in scale / self-serving

Story 1a : Engagement and support

Paradigm constraints for ‘mutual’ development3

Institutional and household views

Conventional focus on perceived ‘risks’

Marginal financial routes for UK growth

Limits to current appeal of ‘mutual’ options :

- ‘Co-operatives’ for equality, but usually zero ‘private’ ownership.

-‘Cohousing’ for purchases and facilities, but may have zero AH and end up as speculative.

- ‘Community Land Trusts’ for accountability but spectrum is from paternalism to self-help

Demand currently imprecise: research on ‘self build’ appetites - Plymouth, York (x2), Sheffield

 

___________________________

Source: Ashley Vale, Bristol

___________________________

Source: Ashley Vale, Bristol

The need for a new paradigm4

___________________________Source: East Winns, Findhorn

___________________________Source: East Winns, Findhorn

Issues for a new paradigm to address

• Appetite for UK owner-occupation not diminished / limited interest in traditional ‘shared ownership’, or long-term rent

• ‘Mutuals’ as means to overcome UK market excess : costs / alienation / poor design

• Many ‘mutual’ groups supportive of mixing ownership and rental occupancies • Prepared to secure ‘affordability’ and provide ‘affordable housing’ • Current lead-in demands accentuate ‘risk’ : long times, uncertain sites, difficult funding; little familiarity with collaborative processes in UK

Mixing old tenures for something new5

• Community ‘freehold’ / long leaseholds & long rental tenancies / resale & re-let covenants

• Positive support for sustained ‘affordability’

• Mortgages finance via ‘High Street’ lenders / options for ‘community (crowd) funding’

• Affordable Housing provision, & access to Registered Provider status and grant

• Options for rent-to-equity

• Direct local accountability

• Single utilities and common costs

• Rights to acquire land

• Political support for insertion within market frameworks (finances, viabilities, etc.)

___________________________

Source: Springhill, Stroud

___________________________

Source: Springhill, Stroud

Key elements for a new paradigm

New paradigm : ‘investing in neighbourhoods’6

(a) ’Mutual ownership’ – LILAC

(b) New ‘custom build’ tenure

(c) Collaborative ‘bond’ finances

(d) Creating a spectrum of ‘Land Trusts’

(e) Joint private–community partnerships

Expand role of ‘Land Trusts’ as basis for mainstreaming complementary approaches to collaborative projects:

Community Land Trusts

Co-operative Land Trusts

Cohousing Land Trusts

‘Custom Build ‘Land Trusts

___________________________

Source: LILAC, Leeds

Conclusion___________________________

Source: LILAC, Leeds

Potential options for a new paradigm

Putting the new paradigm in place …..7

Good neighbourhoods happen when people demand them .....

To show ‘demand’, people have to come forward ....

To come forward, people must believe they could succeed ....

To believe, people need inspiration ....Inspiration needs practical examples .....Examples need imagination and

creativity .....Creativity must fashion frameworks ....Frameworks need to be embedded in local

communities .....Communities grow from neighbourhoods.

___________________________

Source: Forge Bank, Lancaster

___________________________

Source: Forge Bank, Lancaster

Key Reports8

Bringing Democracy Home’ (2009) Commission on Co-operative and Mutual Housing, UK

Action Plan to Promote Growth of Self Build Housing’ (DCLG / NaSBA, 2011)

Centre for Housing Policy (2013) : “Build-it-yourself? : understanding the changing landscape of the UK self-build market”, University of York

‘Policy Exchange (2013) : “A Right to Build”, London, UK

National Self Build Association (2013) : “How the public sector can help people build their own homes”, (www.nasba.org.uk)

‘Mutual Housing Group’ (http://mutualhousinggroup.coop/) :

Report of the ‘Land and Society Commission’ (2011), Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, London, UK

___________________________Source: Threshold Centre, Dorset

___________________________

Source: Threshold Centre, Dorset