community-led housing london

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Opportunities

Community groups sought for 56 homes at St Ann’s

The Mayor of London selected Catalyst Housing Group as development partner for a major redevelopment of the St Ann’s Hospital site in Tottenham in December 2020. The scheme features 56 affordable homes set aside for community ownership.

This will make St Ann’s one of the largest community led housing schemes in London.

The GLA launched the search for a community organisation to take on these homes today. Interested organisations should review the information, and submit their joint EOI and sifting brief to the GLA by 14:00 on 4th November 2022.

The wider project is engaging the local community in other facilities and in the landscaping plans for St Ann’s. The remaining affordable homes are intended to be around 60% London Affordable Rent, 20% London Shared Ownership and 20% London Living Rent, including housing for Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust workers, who will be able to make use of London Living Rent homes to ensure staff can be housed locally.

The plans for the St Ann’s site are very exciting, not least because they allow community led housing to become a more consistent part of a diverse London housing landscape. We look forward to supporting community led housing groups to make the most of this opportunity to empower future residents and local people in taking collective control of their housing.

Tower Hamlets unlocks small sites with affordable community-led self-build

Tower Hamlets Council recently announced the two successful community groups to start creating self-build homes at Lark Row and Christian Street, as the borough releases the Pigott Street site specifically for community-led self-build.

The council’s Affordable Self-Build Programme creates opportunities for communities and groups of individuals to build their own homes. Through the Programme, the council aims to make it easier for potential self-builders to work together to access the land they need, to deliver more affordable housing in the borough. Groups are responsible for clienting, designing, building, and managing their own homes.

Community Led Housing London (CLH London) is providing focused, pragmatic, and tailored support for the two groups successful in bidding for these self-build sites – Squeezed London developing six homes with shared cohousing facilities at the Lark Row site, and Platform Homes aiming to build two units on a tight site at Christian Street. This includes support with legal and governance structures, ways to develop the homes and access finance, financial modelling, and long-term management.

Levent Kerimol, Director of Community Led Housing London, said: “We’re very excited to help progress these schemes and work with two groups who wish to live affordably in housing they control and that meets their needs.”

Jalal Aziz, a founding member of Squeezed London, said: “I’m engaged in a number of local initiatives as a Tower Hamlets resident, and I want to see homes for those who are priced out of the area, but I’m also attracted to like-minded individuals who want to improve housing so that it’s developed with community at its heart.”

Tower Hamlets are joined by Camden, Croydon, Harrow, Greenwich, and Waltham Forest, in working with CLH London to create opportunities for community led housing. They are finding that community led housing can diversify and contribute to housing supply, unlocking delivery, and increasing density in tricky contexts, such as small sites and existing estates – to create mutually supportive and more independent communities.

Cllr Hassell at London Borough of Tower Hamlets said: “Partnerships with our communities are key to embedding their role in making a positive contribution to London’s housing delivery now and into the future”

Tower Hamlets’ next council-owned site Pigott Street is now live to bidders. Get in touch to see how we can help you prepare a proposal.

The site is released through a competitive bidding process open to community groups with local connections. By scoring bids 20% on the financial proposal and 80% on qualitative aspects (including community benefit and the sustainability of the scheme) Tower Hamlets has signalled a clear intention to accommodate proposals that meet the needs of local residents, and which may not be viable through conventional routes. The council will also prioritise proposals that optimise the density of housing on council land, in line with planning policy.

CLH London provide practical assistance to London boroughs to move from ad-hoc approaches to CLH to more streamlined proactive programs with regular opportunities for community groups. These could include a proportion of developments or small sites being made available specifically for community led housing through property or planning policy initiatives; or by acting as enabling developers to assist groups.

 

Image by Archio

Camden calls for sites that could deliver CLH

Camden Council has launched a community ‘call for ideas’ seeking the help of the local community in identifying underused council-owned sites that could be used to provide additional homes.

The programme also seeks views on how these homes should be delivered, including an interest in community-led or self-build developers who offer further benefits to the wider community.

For further information and any questions, please email NewHomesSmallSites@camden.gov.uk
This could be your opportunity.

CLT sites in Greenwich

The Royal Borough of Greenwich recently released two sites which are specifically available for Community Land Trusts.

Greenwich are the latest to join a string of boroughs including Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Croydon, and Camden in creating opportunities for community led housing, with several others work on programmes.

Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Anthony Okereke said “this initiative is part of our pledge to use innovative approaches to develop affordable housing in perpetuity for the borough’s residents and create sustainable communities”.

Details of the two garage sites in Kidbrooke and Abbey Wood are available through the council’s procurement portal by registering and searching for SPS 2457 under opportunities.
Proposals are sought by 28 January 2022.

Sites for self-build groups in Tower Hamlets

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has just released two sites which are specifically available for community-led self-build schemes.

We supported the council in developing their Affordable Self Build programme, which was delayed due to covid-19. Lark Row and Christian Street are the first of the 4 sites to be released by the borough.

The Council are looking for proposals from groups of local people by the 16th of April 2021, and will want to see how28 affordability is protected for future residents beyond the initial self-builders. To find out more about the programme, check out the Tower Hamlets self-build guide.