There is a wide variety of approaches to community ownership and to the scope and scale of these community-led actions, from local food production to large-scale solar farms to land development. Aside from contributing to net zero targets, the range of social and economic outcomes from community ownership can be transformative and help spark much bigger system change.
If you want to read or listen to a couple of inspiring examples about community ownership, look in the section below. If you are already involved in a small community ownership project then jump here if you want to do something bigger.
Inspiration read
Making community ownership commonplace
Community power in action
Two villages in East Cambridgeshire, Stretham and Wilburton, joined forces to start SWCLT community land trust and give people who live and work locally more say over development that would benefit the whole community. Partnering with the local council and developer Laragh Homes, they have worked together on a plan for 75 homes with a new village green, workspace and GP surgery. Many of these homes are intended for local working people; supporting the community by providing housing that enables residents to stay in the local area, where average house prices are more than 12 times the median local income. SWCLT is an exemplar of community ownership to make affordable homes available to local people and keep a rural community together.
The Community Land Trust (CLT) model
Community land trusts, or CLTs, are democratic, non-profit organisations that own and develop land for the benefit of the community. They are based on the three principles of Community (they are centred on a geographic community), Land (they exist to steward and develop land and assets) and Trust (they hold these assets in trust for the local community, in perpetuity). The most common focus is on creating affordable housing, often in mixed-use schemes, although CLTs also own different assets (such as workspaces, woodlands, farmland, community centres, pubs and shops) to meet local needs and protect local habitats. The community land trust model is taking off across Britain, with 350 active CLTs in 2023 and another 209 communities exploring or forming one!
New Community-Led Housing Growth Hub
The Community Land Trust Network and UK Cohousing Network have launched a ‘Community- Led Housing Growth Lab’ as a new approach to fulfil the potential of the community-led housing. Sometimes, visiting exemplars like SWCLT and LILAC is not enough for groups that want to replicate these initiatives in their own location, as the conditions, people and circumstances can vary considerably. The purpose of this new CLH Growth Hub is to understand what is essential and replicable in a scheme and which parts are one-offs; to help the transfer and application of what works from one location to another, so success rates can multiply. With community values and localism at the core, the CLH Growth Hub has created a six-month programme using techniques and concepts from service design, lean business start-ups and social impact scaling.
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Inspiration listen
Plant More Trees
Envisioning a forested future with Carl Rowlinson from Plant One Cornwall, and Dave Wood, from Avon Needs Trees.
Do something bigger
If you’re ready to start your own community land trust or to partner with one, or if you’re looking to take a different community ownership approach, here are a few pointers to help your organisation do something bigger.
Start your own community land trust
There is no ‘correct’ way to start a community land trust. Sometimes, it’s in response to a plot of land or potential development site or closed-down pub or retail premise, that comes along and you form a group to buy it and use it as community owned land. Alternatively, existing community organisations can start CLTs and landowners, housing associations and developers can decide to form a CLT to complete a project they already have in mind. However it starts, there are typically five stages to a community-led housing scheme, from the initial forming of the group to finally housing residents. For more information, see this how to do it guide developed by the Community Led Homes consortium; join the Community Land Trust Network; or get in touch with organisations like Shared Assets.
Partner with a community land trust
Communities across the UK are interested in working in partnership with councils, housing associations, landowners and developers, to replicate the community land trust model in their location. To date, there are around 40 schemes where CLTs partner with housing associations; 30 projects where they partner with private developers to build larger numbers of homes on the edges of small towns; and multiple sites where CLTs are allocated a portion of homes as part of a major site built by a master developer (including St Clement’s in Tower Hamlets, Kennett Garden Village in Cambridgeshire and Bayswater in South Oxfordshire). The Community Land Trust Network has established a programme to scale these replicable partnerships and would be a great resource.
Adopt a different community ownership model
Different kinds of community action lend themselves to other community ownership models. For example, community-owned renewable energy can take multiple forms from a cooperative to a community interest society or community benefit society. These clean energy projects are typically owned by local people through share offers and cooperative membership. There are a host of circular economy initiatives that are set up as community interest companies, designed to save money for residents while reducing waste, from swap shops and libraries of things to local recycling enterprises and repair cafes. Communities also come together to buy or lease woodland to manage, reforest or rewild, under separate collective ownership schemes.
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