case studies

St Clements,
London CLT

September 27, 2018

London’s first Community Land Trust providing genuinely affordable homes in London and keeping them affordable in perpetuity.

Number of homes	23 genuinely affordable homes
Location	Mile End
Stage	Completed 2017

How they formed
London CLT was born out of the community organising efforts of Citizens UK in response to the need for genuinely affordable homes in London. London CLT is registered as a Community Benefit Society and is governed by its members. Anyone who lives in London can buy a £1 share and become a member. This gives a vote at the AGM, and the ability to stand for election to the board. The prominent former St Clements hospital site became the focus of campaigns by Citizens UK and London CLT members in 2009. The Greater London Authority, who owned St Clements, agreed to explore possibilities for a CLT on the site.

Securing the site
The GLA ran a competitive bidding process for the site in the early 2010s. London CLT was part of a consortium led by Igloo Regeneration. Their bid included a widespread community-led design process, and genuinely affordable homes in perpetuity. The consortium lost the bid, however the support for a CLT, meant the GLA asked the successful developer, Galliford Try, to see if they could work with London CLT. A partnership was formed after several exploratory conversations.

Design and construction
The site was developed by Linden Homes, part of the Galliford Try group. The scheme provides 252 new homes. The section 106 planning obligation required 35% of these to be affordable, including 58 for social rent managed by Peabody, and 23 Community Land Trust homes. The freehold of the site was to be transferred to a community foundation which collects ground rents for charitable purposes.
London CLT held community design sessions with the developer’s architects, John Thompson & Partners to develop local people’s ideas for the site. The CLT also looked at ‘meanwhile uses’ on the site before the homes were built and held the Shuffle festival which uses culture to bring people together.

Finance and affordability
Providing genuinely affordable homes and keeping them affordable in perpetuity required a unique solution. London CLT bought each home through a back-to-back mortgage arrangement once they were built. Essentially, this means each resident’s mortgage is used by the CLT to buy each home, meaning no borrowing was required by the CLT.
The sale price of each CLT home is directly linked to median incomes in Tower Hamlets, not their market value. This resulted in £130,000 for a 1 bedroom flat, £182,000 for a 2 bed and £235,000 for a 3 bed. This is around one third of their market value.
The CLT residents can sell the property on to another household identified by the CLT at any point, but only at a price linked directly to local incomes. This arrangement means that residents buying with an initial discount receive a diminished financial return when they sell. It removes housing market speculation from the house price and keeps all 23 homes permanently affordable by local people.

Living there
The first CLT residents moved in 2017. An independent CLT panel selected the home-owners, taking account of housing need, local connection and ability to secure a mortgage, as set out in the CLT’s allocation policy. Each household raises their own mortgage, and buys the home fully (at a discount to market value).
The CLT is working with residents to create a cohesive community at St. Clement’s, and to make use of the community space in the John Denham building for events and activities. Residents will take a leading role in how the site and community space is run. Shuffle has become a successful festival and continues in the neighbouring Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

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Naked House

September 27, 2018

Delivering 22 units of resale price capped sub-market units in Enfield, built to the bare minimum allowing residents to adapt their homes over time.

Number of homes	22 resale price capped sub-market homes
Location	Ponders End
Stage	Planning Permitted 2022

How they formed
Established by four young Londoners in 2013, who couldn’t afford to buy and were uninspired by expensive shared ownership flats with fixtures and fittings they didn’t want. They wanted to be part of solving their own housing issues by contributing to their homes and realised they could open this out to others in their situation, so-called ‘generation rent’.
Naked House is a not-for profit Community Interest Company Limited by Guarantee. It is managed by its founding directors and governed by a board which includes industry experts and representatives from a membership of potential residents.

Securing sites
Naked House is in the final stages of securing 3 council owned former garage sites in Enfield on an affordable basis to build 22 homes.

Design and construction
The project should start on site in 2019. Houses will be completed, so they are secure, watertight and habitable, as well as planning, building regs, and mortgage compliant. There will be a kitchen sink, a basic bathroom, heating and the start of electrics and lighting, but no other finishes, fittings or partitions. This allows people to create and adapt their own home over time, either doing the work themselves or paying builders.
Following a competition, Naked House have appointed OMMX as architects. Their design is sympathetic to the suburban character of the sites. The basic structure and shell are well designed, low carbon, and thermally efficient to reduce energy consumption. It also allows for maximum extension and adaptability, so people can choose how they want to live. Naked House will work with residents with a fit-out manual and skills programme to ensure purchasers know what they can and can’t do. The leases will also contain clauses controlling future adaptations.

Finance and affordability
Naked House will use grant funding from the GLA and development finance which will be paid back through purchaser’s mortgages. Working with councils to get land on an affordable basis allows homes to be genuinely affordable for those with a household annual income of between £25-90k. The homes never cost more than a third of gross income. Homes will be priced at around 65-70% of the full market value in Enfield. The lowest cost homes will be genuinely affordable for those on the London median wage or below. As a not-for profit, construction savings will also be passed onto purchasers.
Any discount received by the initial purchaser is locked into the lease through a resale covenant. The home can still rise or fall in line with the market, or with improvements, but always at the same level below market. This ensures the discount is locked in for future generations whilst recognising the ‘sweat equity’ of purchasers.

Living there
Naked House is for the ‘intermediate’ market who don’t qualify for social housing but are unable to afford a home on the open market. An eligibility and allocation policy will be agreed with the Council. This will typically prioritise first-time buyers who live and/or work in the borough and can demonstrate need, an ability to afford mortgage repayments, and a willingness to customise the home. By giving people a stake in their home, and responsibility over a community garden, a shared workshop, and long-term management, the shared journey of adapting homes should bring people together from the start.

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Copper Lane Cohousing

September 27, 2018

London’s first cohousing project shows how sharing some spaces supports community life and makes the houses more compact.

Number of homes	6 market value homes
Location	Stoke Newington
Project Stage	Built 2014

How they formed
The residents came together to do things collectively, sharing things such as gardens and laundry and workshop facilities.

The founding members of the group formed a non-profit company limited by guarantee. The site and common parts are owned by the company. Individual homes are owned on 999-year leases by leaseholders who are also directors of the company. They meet once a month to sort out collective business.

Site
The site had an abandoned set of buildings formerly used as a nursery, surrounded by the backs of terraced houses on all sides. Three of the current residents who lived nearby, spotted the site for sale without planning permission and bought the site together.

Finance
The group sold their homes to finance the purchase of the land and moved into rented accommodation. Once planning permission was secured, they were able to obtain individual mortgages from Ecology Building Society.

Design and Construction
Clustered around a raised central courtyard with a communal space beneath, five of the six houses have internal doors to a shared laundry, workshop and hall which saves space in individual houses and encourages a neighbourly community, surrounded by communal gardens.

The scheme was designed by Henley Halebrown. The homes are sunk 1.2 metres into the ground meaning they do not overshadow neighbouring houses. The orientation of buildings and placement of windows also minimise overlooking.

Trees on the site were kept where possible and high-grade timber and brick cladding were used to blend in with the vegetation and surrounding back gardens. High levels of energy efficiency are achieved with a well-insulated structure, triple glazing, heat recovery ventilation, solar thermal water heating and airtight construction techniques.

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