The document outlines a workshop agenda focused on community land trusts (CLTs) as a solution to the housing crisis in rural areas, particularly in Norfolk and other parts of the UK. It discusses the background of the housing situation, including shortages and rising prices due to second home ownership, and presents potential community-driven approaches to affordable housing. Participants will engage in discussions about implications for local communities and explore options for establishing local housing trusts.

1. Community Housing Options Workshop Agenda
(1 Hour Time Limit)
1. Welcome and introductions (Henry - 5 mins)
2. Outline of Community Land Trusts (Barry - 5 mins)
The type of community housing options the workshop will
focus on are what come under the broad umbrella title of
Community Land Trusts or CLTs. In essence, CLTs are
community based organisations run by volunteers that develop
housing or other assets for the benefit of the community
concerned.
It is a cost-driven model, where the CLT ensures that
the occupiers to pay for the use of buildings and services at
prices they can afford. The difference between the cost of the
home or asset and the market value are permanently locked in
by the CLT who holds the asset or equity in trust for long-term
community benefit.
It is a model that originated in the USA and which is being
increasingly adopted here in the UK. The model is well
established in Scotland where, for example, in 1997 the
inhabitants of the Isle of Eigg’s became pioneers in land
reform by buying the island from absentee landlords, thereby
giving islanders control of their future for the first time. Since
the buy out, Eigg now has the first completely wind, water and
sun-powered electricity grid in the world. Scotland now has a
great number and variety of CLTs and the model is
underpinned by a legal framework and financial and practical
support.
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2. The model is less advanced in the rest of the UK but it is
gradually speading with more and more community affordable
housing projects being set up, most notably in Cornwall, where
locals are priced out of their local communities due to the
impact on property values of incomers and the growth in
second and holiday home ownership. Northumberland is
another notable area of activity where the Lindisfarne
Community Development Trust became the first CLT in
England to obtain a Government grant to help pay for an
affordable housing development for local people.
The current Housing Minister, Grant Schapps, has repeatedly
professed his admiration for the CLT model, even suggesting
while still in opposition that they could be the answer to
Britain’s housing crisis. That might be stretching it a bit far but
here at Norfolk RCC we believe there is a significant role for
them in meeting housing need in our rural communities.
3. Explanation of background housing situation nationally
and locally via statistics (Henry - 10 mins)
What is the problem? Well, in short, there is a general
shortage of available housing, especially in rural areas, so
local people often find themselves priced out of their local
housing market, forcing them to move away. The main
reasons for this include:
• a general decline in house building since the late 1960s
(chart);
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3. • the loss of former council houses sold under ‘Right to Buy’
and the failure to replace them;
• relatively low rural incomes;
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4. • increased demand and prices due to wealthier people
moving to the countryside from urban areas;and,
• significant levels of second and holiday home ownership
which, to some extent, can be approximated in empty
homes figures. As you will note, there are currently
estimated to be over 12,000 properties in Norfolk that are
not permanently occupied and just under 4,500 that have
been empty for more than 6 months.
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5. As a result, it is fairly typical to find that average property
prices in rural Norfolk are such as to require a mortgage the
equivalent of 10 times the average rural income. In some
areas with very high levels of second and holiday home
ownership, such as on the North Norfolk coast, the ratio of
property prices to local incomes is substantially higher still.
Thus, home ownership is clearly not an option for many and
the lack of rental alternatives, affordable or otherwise, leaves
little option but to look elsewhere.
Reflecting this situation, the number of households on District
Council Housing Registers in England have been steadily
increasing and are up around 80% from 1,021,664 in 1997 to
1,837,042 in 2011 (chart).
The increase is even more dramatic in Norfolk where the
numbers have trebled from 10,368 in 1997 to 31,107 in 2011
(chart).
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6. It should be noted that these figures relate to households
rather than individuals and don’t include those waiting for
transfers.
Clearly, traditional housing development is not meeting the
housing need and with population projected to carry on
increasing by over 100,000 households over the next 20 years
or so (chart)
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7. the problem looks set to keep getting worse….unless,
perhaps, communities can do something about it.
In a moment we will be highlighting a couple of options
communities could potentially pursue to provide affordable
housing for local people and thereby help stave off or even
reverse the spiral of decline. Before we get to that though,
what do people see as the main implications of the situation
for communities and individual households?
4. Feedback from participants re implications of housing
situation for rural communities and households (Barry - 5
mins)
Points could/should include:
• Forcing local people, especially younger people, to move
away
• Elderly and vulnerable no longer able to rely on care and
support from family members
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8. • More difficult for local schools, POs, shops and other
businesses and services to remain viable due to loss of
customers/users and potential staff
• Social networks and community cohesion suffers
• People forced into living in overcrowded, insecure and/or
substandard conditions
• Health problems due to overcrowding, damp and
disrepair
• Children with no room to play or study adversely affecting
life chances
• Homelessness
5. Outline of some Community Housing Trust type options
a) 2nd homes model (eg. Homes For Wells) (Barry - 5 mins)
This model was initially based on finding absentee owners
of second and holiday homes who were willing to let their
properties to local tenants at affordable rents and then
matching up landlords and tenants. It was set up in such a
way that it could simply provide owners with a tenant finding
service or it could include a property lettings/management
service too if that’s what owners preferred. As seen in the
empty homes charts, we are potentially talking about
significant numbers of properties that could be brought back
into use.
The model can also extend to property development, by
utilising existing empty homes and other properties and
surplus land for local lettings. For example, larger houses
could be turned into several flats and larger gardens could
be built on.
Norfolk RCC currently has a project roughly following the
Homes For Wells model by looking to extend it to other
areas where there are high levels of second and holiday
home ownership.
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9. b) Poor’s Trusts (Henry - 5 mins)
A key issue with CLT type housing schemes is how they are
financed. Typically the finance will be a combination of
grants, loans and subsidy. One way to help make
community housing schemes affordable is by securing
development land at low, or no, price. Norfolk RCC is just
about to roll out a project that will aim to utilise Poor’s Trust/
Relief Charity land holdings that exist in pretty much every
parish.
These Poor’s Trusts were set up at the time of the Land
Enclosures, mostly between about 1760 and 1820.
Basically, wealthy landowners gained possession of public
or common land through individual Acts of Enclosure
covering one or more parishes. As part of each Act of
Enclosure there was usually a requirement to set aside
some land for the benefit of the poor. In effect, the Acts set
of parish level trusts to administer the Poor’s Land, typically
(but not exclusively) by renting it out and using the income
to provide fuel or alms for the poor of the parish.
Nowadays, the majority of Poor’s Trusts seem to generate
very little income (some as little as £30 or £40 per year)
and, with the advent of the modern welfare state, they often
struggle to identify poor people to distribute whatever fuel or
funds they do generate. Therefore, they often aren’t really
able to fulfill very effectively what we would now term their
charitable purposes. We at Norfolk RCC saw an
opportunity to help some of them to help the modern poor of
the parish by either converting them to CLTs or by making
the Poor’s Land available to a purpose built CLT to provide
affordable housing for local people who may otherwise be
forced to move away.
c) Ashwellthorpe scheme (Barry - 5 mins)
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10. This model was based on subsidy from market housing –
insert Barry’s piece
6. Exercise (Henry - 10 mins)
There are certain fundamental issues that any community
housing solution is likely to involve so how do you think
communities could go about the following? (some suggested
answers in red)
• Getting people involved to drive the project forward (ie. set
up a Community Housing Trust type organisation) – raise
with PC, identify who is already active in community, who is
interested in issue, who works in housing/property/planning
and/or who has relevant skills (development, finance,
project management, etc)
• Identifying local housing need – see if anyone knows of
anyone who needs local housing, ask whoever runs LA
housing register for info re people who have expressed an
interest in local housing, do survey (always)
• Finding/securing suitable properties/land – identify local
property owners (especially absentees) and landowners,
including poors/relief charities, with aim of securing
properties/land cheaply or even free, requires having some
understand of land suitability both for development and
planning purposes
• Undertaking development – DIY, employ developer such as
Housing Association
• Obtaining development funding, where needed - HCA, other
grant providers, loans, land/property sales
• Getting planning permission, if required - basically become
familiar with planning rules or (consult/employ someone
who is) and consult LA planning dept, under Localism Act
communities may be able to give planning approval via
majority vote in local ballot
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11. • Dealing with objectors/objections (try to anticipate the sorts
of objections that could arise and possible responses) –
need to try to keep people happy as far as possible but
ultimately the only objections that count relate to planning
policies, rules and regulations
• Setting rents/prices – need to be below market level (80%
or less)
• Deciding who gets the properties – fair/transparent
allocations policy and procedures
• Ensuring they are retained for local people in perpetuity –
rules preventing outright purchase and sale of share to non-
locals or transfers to non-locals
• Managing and maintaining rental properties – DIY or
employ staff/contractor
Please note that Norfolk RCC can now offer guidance and
support on these sorts of issues.
7. Questions and close (Barry - 10 mins)
At end, invite participants to contact Norfolk RCC (put number
on flipchart agenda) if they or anyone they know may be
interested in setting up a local housing trust to meet local
need.
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