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Rural Housing Week is a time to consider the positive impact community land trusts can have
Community land trusts (CLTs) are a way to get affordable developments built in rural areas for the benefit of local people, writes Graham Carr-Jones
Seven years ago, Forge Orchard in the West Dorset village of Powerstock was a builder’s yard. Today it is a CLT providing affordable homes for eight local families.
As we mark Rural Housing Week, community land trusts could be one way of getting to grips with the sometimes thorny issue of development in the countryside while also helping to breathe new life into our villages.
Forge Orchard, which sits within Powerstock’s conservation area, has a mix of one to three-bedroom houses and a one-bedroom bungalow.
Among the new residents are the Bell and O’Dowd families, who met Prince Charles when he paid an official visit to celebrate the completion of the development at the end of May.
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Patrick and Susan O’Dowd are both in their late seventies and have lived in the village for 38 years. They have settled into a one-bedroom bungalow at the heart of Forge Orchard, while Naomi and Charlie Bell have moved in across the road with two-year-old daughter Ruby and baby Izaac, who is nearly one.
Mr and Ms Bell also have strong local connections. That is the key to community land trusts: they are founded by volunteers from the community and led by the community for the community.
The Powerstock and District CLT, led by chair Vanessa White, selected the site, gained the landowner’s support and commissioned the architect before selecting Hastoe Housing Association to develop and manage Forge Orchard.
CLTs usually choose a housing association to develop and manage a site, although it can apply for a building grant and manage the tenancies if it wishes to.
Generally, properties are let to people with a local connection usually on a rental basis at below open market rates.
Ms White, who is now a trustee of the National CLT Network, and her CLT worked tirelessly for seven years to bring Forge Orchard to life.
She says that the single most important element to any successful CLT is to be open, honest and transparent, and to keep the community informed and involved every step of the way.
The total cost of the Forge Orchard development was just under £1.8m, with the former West Dorset District Council contributing £195,000 and Homes England £360,000.
It was designed to reflect a farmyard conversion and all materials were carefully selected to meet the requirements of the conservation area.
Western Dorset is among the most active areas in the country for CLTs. Seven CLT schemes have been completed, delivering just over 70 affordable homes, including an award-winning development in Lyme Regis.
“The single most important element to any successful CLT is to be open, honest and transparent, and to keep the community informed and involved every step of the way”
There are also more than 10 projects coming forward in the new Dorset Council area, which are at various stages.
Dorset Council is proactively helping communities to start CLTs along with the Wessex Community Land Trust project.
Wessex CLT is a major feature of the council’s ‘Opening Doors’ programme to encourage the construction of 20,000 more good-quality homes of all tenures by 2033 in North, West and South Dorset.
These parts of Dorset are among the worst places in the county, with an average house price of £320,042 in West Dorset set against an average salary of £24,825, according to the National Housing Federation. This means that the average home costs 13 times the average salary.
It is unlikely that families such as the Bells or O’Dowds would have been able to buy at open market prices in Powerstock.
Forge Orchard is a perfect example of just how well community land trusts can work and shows just what can be done if the community gets behind a scheme. I very much hope the success of schemes such as Forge Orchard inspire other communities to seriously consider CLTs, too.
Graham Carr-Jones, portfolio holder for housing, Dorset Council
