23 MAY 2007 -  The question Could Community Land Trusts be the answer to providing affordable housing in rural areas? was answered at a recent conference held in Knaresborough.  Organised by councils across North Yorkshire in partnership with the Yorkshire Rural Community Council, sixty delegates heard from experts on CLTs as well as from people who have successfully set them up.

 

Whilst it is possible to control the cost of a home the first time it goes on sale which councils can do via planning constraints or in partnership with their Housing Association partners it is much more difficult to control the price as properties revert to market price value once they are sold on.

 

Harrogate Borough Council has had some success in retaining properties with the original 'market price' discount being passed on but was keen to hear how Community Land Trusts can keep properties within the affordability bracket.

 

Councillor Jean Butterfield, Cabinet Member for Housing, who opened the seminar said:  "This was a very worthwhile conference.  At a time when there is a shortage of affordable housing and scarcity of suitable development land, it is important to explore innovative ways of meeting housing needs and keeping affordable housing affordable in perpetuity for the benefit of the community for whom it was built.

 

"Community Land Trusts may be one of the solutions to these problems."

 

Community Land Trusts are not-for-profit community run organisations, which buy land and capture its value for an indefinite period for the benefit of the local community.  Long term affordable property can then be built on it, with buyers paying only for the house itself, not the land; this still belongs to the Trust.

 

Sally Rawlings, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Rural Community Council, said:  "These Trusts are not a new concept so we don't need to reinvent the wheel but learn from successful examples such as Letchworth Garden City developed back in 1903 and the Stonesfield Community Trust in Oxfordshire set up in 1983.  The aim of the seminar was to raise the profile of the Trusts and generate interest from local communities wanting to participate in an initiative that will provide lasting benefit for local people and future generations.  ENDS

 

Parish Councils and landowners were urged to contact the council's Rural Housing Enabler (Khyati Prajapati), if they want to explore the idea of a Community Land Trust.