Building the Case for Social and Community-Led Housing

Research by the New Economics Foundation that builds the case for more social and affordable homes, including community-led housing, and shows how hope value reform can support the delivery of more affordable housing in New Towns. 

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Strategic purpose

To support the delivery of more decent, affordable homes for people in need. 

Why we are funding this project

The Labour government committed to building 1.5 million new homes by the end of this Parliament. But these homes need to be affordable to those who need them, with communities empowered to contribute to delivering this ambitious target. Through this research, the Nationwide Foundation aimed to influence the building of more social homes as well as highlight the important contribution that community-led housing can offer in New Towns.

Project description

The Nationwide Foundation originally provided funding to the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in 2024 to conduct research and advocacy work that would provide policymakers with the evidence they would need to adopt ambitious social housing proposals in the run up to the general election. With an unexpected election called in July 2024, the main findings of this research were instead issued post-election, with a new aim to influence the incoming Labour government.  

Several reports have since been published and used directly with the Labour government to inform its housing plans. The first identified the extent of public gain if the government builds on its predecessor’s reforms to limit the impact of ‘hope value’ on land valuations subject to Compulsory Purchase Order. In March 2025, the Foundation was pleased to see proposed reforms to hope value included in the government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill.  

The second report contributed to the growing body of evidence which shows that investment in a new generation of social homes is not only essential to meet the government’s housebuilding targets but also generates significant economic returns. 

It was also expected that both of these reports would contribute towards the evidence being gathered by the New Towns Taskforce, an independent expert advisory panel appointed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to support the government to deliver the next generation of new towns. 

This work concluded over the summer of 2025 with a joint publication with Shelter. This set out how any New Town must ensure that it offers sufficient volumes of genuinely affordable homes that tackle housing need in high demand areas, and outlined how some of these homes can be delivered by community-led housing projects.   

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