{"id":86685,"date":"2017-11-27T13:23:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T13:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=a54c2bc1df4c7cdedf0e085dadcf9db0"},"modified":"2017-11-27T13:23:09","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T13:23:09","slug":"speech-community-led-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=86685","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Community-led housing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Thank you, Sophie. [Sophie Long, BBC News correspondent and presenter (event host)]<\/p>\n

The BBC folk seem to get the best gigs in town.<\/p>\n

I am speaking at an event being compered by Mark Easton next.<\/p>\n

[Easton RESI conference<\/a> story]<\/p>\n

I am absolutely delighted to be here at what is a landmark moment for community-led housing.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s event \u2013 the first ever conference to bring the sector together \u2013 is testament to just how far you have come.<\/p>\n

With half of the 225 plus Community Land Trusts<\/a> in England and Wales having been set up in the past 2 years, the momentum is clearly growing.<\/p>\n

And I want you to know that I am behind you all the way.<\/p>\n

Benefits<\/h2>\n

Because the strengths of community-led housing speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

You know your local areas better than anyone.<\/p>\n

And are better placed to make things happen.<\/p>\n

To see the potential of small sites.<\/p>\n

Difficult sites.<\/p>\n

Sites that are off limits or of no interest to developers.<\/p>\n

You are not waiting for someone else to step in and just take what you are offered.<\/p>\n

You are designing and developing houses that you and your neighbours are proud to call home.<\/p>\n

Homes that, from the word go, are an integral part of your communities.<\/p>\n

Homes that are not just affordable now, but are affordable forever.<\/p>\n

That are models of high quality design, energy efficiency and innovation.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just the people in those homes who benefit.<\/p>\n

Because your work raises the bar for the entire housing market.<\/p>\n

Pushing up expectations of design quality.<\/p>\n

Powering the growth of modern methods of construction.<\/p>\n

And, by supporting smaller-scale building companies making the house building industry more diverse and resilient.<\/p>\n

But the benefits go further still.<\/p>\n

By giving people a hand in the conversion or refurbishment of empty properties you are equipping them with new and highly transferrable construction skills.<\/p>\n

You are sustaining local economies by giving young home-grown talent affordable places to live and a reason to stay.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not just building better homes.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re building better communities.<\/p>\n

Barriers<\/h2>\n

And I certainly don\u2019t underestimate what that takes.<\/p>\n

You face significant barriers, such as access to pre-development grants, loans or mortgages and a lack of understanding or resources at a local policy level.<\/p>\n

But the biggest barriers are almost certainly cultural.<\/p>\n

It is a simple idea: if you need a home, why not build it?<\/p>\n

Yet most people in our country never even consider it seriously.<\/p>\n

And, if they do, they might think of either Grand Designs or some kind of flat-pack nightmare on an epic scale.<\/p>\n

I know, from living and working in Europe that homes built by local communities are a normal part of the landscape in countries like Germany and Sweden.<\/p>\n

People there may be somewhat surprised that we need to have a conference about it at all.<\/p>\n

Yet here in Britain, the term \u201ccommunity-led housing\u201d is likely to be met with blank looks.<\/p>\n

Well, outside this room anyway!<\/p>\n

And, even when explained, it\u2019s seen as a heroic endeavour that is only for the most extraordinary and adventurous of individuals.<\/p>\n

Of course you are extraordinary people. And I don\u2019t normally like to single out individuals from a sea of excellence.<\/p>\n

But on this occasion I must.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Maria Brenton, who for 18 years and counting has committed herself to the Older Women\u2019s Cohousing project in Barnet.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Geoff Pook, from the Beer CLT, who formed a group, secured funding, secured Registered Provider status and built 7 homes \u2013 and did it all in just 2 years.<\/p>\n

Two years!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had flat-pack furniture in garage still not assembled after 5 years!<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget one of the first innovators, David Brown, who has just stood down as Chair of High Bickington Community Property Trust after almost 2 decades.<\/p>\n

Maria, Geoff and David are truly inspirational, and I take my hat off to them, and indeed to all of you.<\/p>\n

But I want community-led housing to be a realistic option not just for exceptional people but for all people.<\/p>\n

Even politicians!<\/p>\n

Realising the sector\u2019s potential<\/h2>\n

This is vital if we are to realise the true potential of this sector.<\/p>\n

To empower more communities.<\/p>\n

To, ultimately, see community-led housing playing a much bigger role in delivering the houses our country desperately needs.<\/p>\n

Delivering these houses is an overriding priority for this government.<\/p>\n

Recent figures showed that the number of homes in England increased by more than 217,000 last year – the highest level of net additions since the depths of the recession.<\/p>\n

But you saw in February\u2019s housing white paper<\/a>, and again in last week\u2019s ambitious Budget<\/a>, that we want to go further still.<\/p>\n

That we want to build more of the right homes, in the right places, at the right prices.<\/p>\n

And I believe that community-led housing has a huge role to play in helping us to do just that.<\/p>\n

Announcement<\/h2>\n

A year ago we backed the sector with the launch of the Community Housing Fund.<\/p>\n

Since then, we\u2019ve awarded \u00a360 million in grants to help 148 local authorities support more community-led projects<\/p>\n

The grants, which ranged in size, were paid to authorities that had the least affordable homes or the highest density of second homes.<\/p>\n

Alongside the money, we gave advice on how to spend it in order to deliver the best results.<\/p>\n

And we wanted the grants to help build capacity and support local projects, now and into the future.<\/p>\n

Some fantastic work has been happening as a result .<\/p>\n

Many councils \u2013 such as in Sussex, Hampshire and London \u2013 have pooled these resources to provide and information and support hub for community groups.<\/p>\n

Others \u2013 such as Cornwall and West Dorset \u2013 have already used the money directly to help get the projects off the ground.<\/p>\n

In short, this funding has been a success.<\/p>\n

So today I can today announce that we will launch a new programme of funding to help build thousands more homes.<\/p>\n

Worth \u00a360 million in the first year alone, it will provide both capital and revenue funding, with flexibility to meet demand.<\/p>\n

A significant element of the funding will also go towards developing an advisory network that supports community groups to bring forward projects.<\/p>\n

We will shortly publish a prospectus setting out criteria for bids.<\/p>\n

And, from January, we will invite applications from community groups, registered providers and any other appropriate organisations.<\/p>\n

Bids will be assessed by the experts at Homes England, our new national housing agency.<\/p>\n

And we hope to announce the first allocations as soon as Easter.<\/p>\n

It is vitally important to me that we continue to work closely with the sector in delivering this programme, just as we have done in the design phase.<\/p>\n

Many of you have had a hand in shaping this new programme of work. And I hope you will reap the rewards.<\/p>\n

And I also hope you will come together to share your vast experience and expertise.<\/p>\n

I want to ensure that our investment in the sector makes a real difference and your contribution will be invaluable in helping us achieve this.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I will be setting up an advisory group to steer the Department of Communities and Local Government on the delivery of the programme.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Some will say this just small fry.<\/p>\n

That community-led housing currently accounts for just a few hundred units a year \u2013 under half a per cent of total housing output in England.<\/p>\n

That the scale of the challenge before us \u2013 building 300,000 homes a year \u2013 dwarfs the capacity of the community-led sector.<\/p>\n

But when the community-led movement began it was producing just a handful of homes each year.<\/p>\n

First that grew to a few dozen, then to a few hundred.<\/p>\n

Now, with government on your side, there is no reason why those hundreds cannot become thousands.<\/p>\n

No single measure will fix our broken housing market.<\/p>\n

But with action on many fronts, with the dedication of many people, we can get there.<\/p>\n

It will take time.<\/p>\n

But I know that we can do it.<\/p>\n

And community-led housing has a serious contribution to make.<\/p>\n

There are few sectors that boast the combination of talent and passion that we have here today.<\/p>\n

People who are totally committed to making their communities better places to live.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s do everything we can to get even more people involved in community-led housing.<\/p>\n

Together with you I want to make the idea of communities building the homes they need not a radical departure, but an everyday reality.<\/p>\n

And for the sector to play its part in getting Britain building.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Housing Minister Alok Sharma’s speech to the Community-Led Housing Conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}