Wed03Feb Bristol Community Land Trust inaugural meeting

[Tony Gosling]

Press release – for immediate publication
20th January 2011

Bristol CLT launches opening event for affordable community housing

For many people in Bristol, high house prices and 
lack of mortgage finance mean that owning or 
renting a decent home is still just a dream. Now 
the recently-launched Bristol CLT offers an 
alternative route to home ownership or rental, by 
involving the local community as well as future 
residents in the design and construction of affordable homes.
The Bristol CLT, an umbrella organisation set up 
to promote Community Land Trusts in Bristol, will 
host its opening event from 3 to 7pm on Wednesday 
3rd February at Hamilton House on Stokes Croft. 
The event is free and open to anyone who is 
interested in affordable homes, self-build or 
community-led delivery of housing in Bristol.

A Community Land Trust is a non-profit 
organisation that owns assets such as land and 
buildings and holds them for the benefit of a 
particular community or area. CLTs can be used to 
provide affordable housing that is controlled by 
members of the local community, rather than by a housing association.

Bristol City Council has agreed to provide 
finance to support a pilot CLT scheme  with two 
possible locations being Fishponds Road, 
Eastville and Victoria Park Baptist Church, 
Bedminster. Homes could be sold on an 
equity-share basis, for example, at around 50-70% 
of market value. An element of self-build may be 
included in the project, reducing the costs of home ownership even further.

Bristol is already recognised as a leader in 
community-led self-build, with the Ashley Vale 
development in St Werburghs being awarded the 
prestigious Building For Life Award in 2010 – the 
first self-build scheme in the country to receive this accolade.

The pilot project is aimed at first-time buyers 
on average or low incomes, although it may also 
include affordable rented accommodation. One of 
the proposed schemes may include an element of 
cohousing, where small private dwellings are 
grouped around shared communal facilities.

The Bristol CLT will hold two short presentations 
at its opening event, at 3pm and 6pm, to show 
draft designs for each of the sites. It is hoped 
the event will attract potential residents, those 
wanting a say in how the homes are designed and 
managed, and people with ideas for future CLT projects across Bristol.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1.      Community Land Trusts are established in 
communities to acquire land or other fixed assets 
and then hold them in perpetuity for the benefit 
of the local community. They work on a non-profit 
basis, accessing public, private and charitable 
finance and tapping into the resources of their 
community to provide and manage affordable 
housing, workspace, community buildings and assets and green space.

2.      CLTs work by enabling occupiers to pay 
for the use of buildings and services at prices 
they can afford, while the value of land, 
subsidies, planning gain and other equity 
benefits are permanently locked in, on behalf of 
them and future occupiers, by the Community Land Trust.

3.      The Bristol CLT was set up in 2010 by a 
project group including Bristol City Council, 
Ecomotive (a social enterprise promoting 
affordable and sustainable housing through 
self-build) and Wessex Community Assets (experts 
on CLTs), and other members of the Bristol 
community.  Anyone in Bristol with an interest in 
community-led affordable housing can become a 
member of the Bristol CLT for only £1.

4.      Housing Minister Grant Shapps recently 
announced a boost for community-led housing 
delivery via the Government’s proposed Community 
Right To Build, which would allow communities 
more control over new housing in their own 
neighbourhoods. He highlighted Bristol’s Ashley 
Vale development as an example of good practice.

5.      The opening event is from 3 to 7 pm on 
Thursday 3rd February 2011 at Hamilton House, 80 
Stokes Croft, BS1 3QY. Attendees will be able to 
browse displays and talk to experts and Bristol 
CLT representatives about the potential projects, 
with short presentations being given at 3pm and 6pm.


For more information, contact Jackson Moulding at 
<mailto:Jackson at ecomotive.org>Jackson at ecomotive.org 
or 0117 9241263. See also 
<http://www.ecomotive.org>www.ecomotive.org and 
<http://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk>www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk.



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