Community Land Trust Network

This grant contributes to the ongoing work of the Community Land Trust Network, supporting the organisation to influence decision-makers, assist its members, and work to secure adequate funding for community-led housing projects.

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Why we are funding this project

To support the national infrastructure required to allow the community-led housing sector to grow at scale and ultimately provide more affordable housing.

Strategic purpose

To support the increase and availability of suitable and affordable finance at every stage of community-led housing development and to increase access to land and properties not currently used as homes.

Project description

This funding contributes to the core funding of the Community Land Trust Network over five years, ensuring that its work in empowering community land trusts, as well as community-led housing more widely, can continue. Importantly, the funding will also support the government-lobbying work the network engages in.

The funded work of the Community Land Trust Network falls into six separate areas:

• Developing and progressing an advocacy strategy
• Campaigning to bring about positive policy changes for community land trusts and the wider community-led housing sector
• Compiling data to make sure that a robust case can be made in favour of community-led housing to policymakers
• Providing advocacy support to regional community-led housing hubs so that they can achieve change in their areas
• Improving the finance available for community-led housing
• Building and strengthening partnerships so that more high-profile stakeholders speak up in support of community land trusts.

Alongside core funding, the Nationwide Foundation works closely with the Community Land Trust Network to make the case for community-led housing. We believe that community-led housing is a sustainable option for delivering truly affordable homes and that the sector should receive longer-term public funding.

In September 2020, Capital Economics published detailed research about the value for money of community-led housing. The published report notes that for every £1 of public money invested, there is a return of £2.70 in public benefit across the following decade. This research was commissioned by the Community Land Trust Network and jointly funded by the Nationwide Foundation and Power to Change.

Published in September 2021, research conducted by Tom Archer and Catherine Harrington assessed the impact of funding changes on the pipeline of community-led homes. Once again, this research was commissioned by the Community Land Trust Network and funded by both the Nationwide Foundation and Power to Change. The research found that 12,000 community-led homes could be delivered if the Community Housing Fund was revived and funded with £65 million. The report was launched at an event attended by senior industry figures and Christopher Pincher MP, the Minister of State for Housing at the time.

More recently, after a long-running campaign, CLTN secured government backing to successfully implement its £4m Community Housing Fund between August 2021 and March 2022. Since its first iteration in 2016, CLTs have secured £2m to progress projects to create 659 homes, representing more than half the total number of community-led housing projects supported with funding through the Community Housing Fund.

Back to funding 2016–present