‘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
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