community led housing london

Other CLH

Endlesham Hall

Endlesham Hall hosts a wide range of activities and events and has been at the heart of community life in this part of Balham since 1936. While it is still a popular venue, the building is rapidly ageing.

Number of homes 9 London Affordable Rent homes
Location Balham
Stage Planning granted 2023

The community membership of the independent church, who own the site, are working on creating a new multipurpose hall that reflects their values and becomes a special place for the community along with 9 affordable rented homes for younger key-workers above.

How we’re helping
We facilitated workshops on housing and governance structures and funded a design and viability study commissioned through an invited community selection process. The architects carried out feasibility work, which helped to secure further funding for a planning application. We have also provided feedback on financial modelling and have encouraged the church community to ask the right questions of prospective partners. Our associate adviser, Andy Redfearn, supported liaison with a Registered Provider, and contributed to the planning application, which was granted in March 2023.

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Fountain Self Build Group

Fountain Self Build Group was established in 2015, by group of Waltham Forest residents in overcrowded households. Their aim is to create a sustainable community of social and genuinely affordable rented homes, meeting the needs of the self-build group.

Inspired by the Headway Self Build project, the group are looking to partner with a housing association who could forward-fund the scheme and build homes to a watertight shell. Members would then self-finish the scheme with last-fix carpentry and decorating and have approached a local college to collaborate with on the training.

How we’re helping
We have provided Adviser sessions about their approach, and explored the possibility of a relationship with Clarion and other partners.

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Otherwise Living

Otherwise Living is a multistakeholder co-operative with a vision for sustainable urban living to create a healthy, self managed neighbourhood, based in Queens Park.

Their vision is of small private living spaces integrated with large and varied community spaces for many purposes with people of different generations and skills living together. This becomes a place for self-determined living bringing together food, learning, homespaces, smallfunds, wellbeing and workspace.

Otherwise Living aims to create a distinct sense of neighbourhood, which is integrated into the surrounding local area, and explores alternatives to consumerism and over-consumption, while expanding the notions of family, education, community and neighbourhood.

How we’re helping
We will be providing advice on a greater focus on the project scope, finances, and deliverability.

 
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Greenstreet Hill

A self-build housing co-operative built in timber frame, around a communal garden, in the early 1990s.

Number of homes 11 affordable units
Location Brockley
Completed on site 1993

Group

CHISEL Housing Association helped to facilitate the formation of a housing co-operative, and supported the establishment of the project. The co-operative members were actively involved in selecting architects and the designs of the project. They had to contribute a certain number of hours to the construction of the project every week, alongside formal employment or other duties, as a condition of the affordable housing grant.

The original residents organised the construction work and physically built their own homes, learning a great deal through the process.

Site
The site off Drakefell Road in Brockley was originally owned by the Council, but had not been used for council housing by the 1990s. As a relatively small site it was available for development.

Design
Car parking is provided in one part of site, leaving the rest of the site available to group houses around a shared garden space in the middle of the site. Access to individual homes increases the chance of bumping into neighbours and building a strong sense of community.

The houses were designed in close consultation with the group and individuals. Variations to the basic layout were easily achievable as the wall elements are independent of the structural frame.

Construction
The simple timber frame method was pioneered by architect Walter Segal on self-build schemes in the early 1980s, although it has had to be developed and updated to meet more recent construction standards. It has been particularly suitable for people without previous building experience as it makes economical use of ‘off the shelf’ materials, detailed to require as little cutting as possible, while keeping the construction process largely ‘on-site’.

The structure uses small pad foundations at the foot of each post. This allows development close to mature trees without expensive retaining structures. The houses incorporate energy saving features and environmentally-healthy specifications.