New Study Highlights the Value of Community Led Housing
6th November 2020
Recent independent research has highlighted that Community Led Housing projects have a ’medium to high’ value for money rating, which is great news for the sector as it makes a case for further funding from the Government. The report was commissioned by the National Community Land Trust Network and funded by the Nationwide Foundation and Power to Change.
Looking at key aspects of what CLH projects deliver, report authors Capital Economics described Additionality, Affordability and Wellbeing were the three areas where CLH projects excelled:
Additionality - the homes built by community groups would otherwise not be built. This is not displacement for existing commercial build projects. Communities are taking on small and difficult sites which conventional developers would struggle to make viable.
Affordability - homes produced by communities are creating more social rent properties and more affordable rent properties than other Homes England funded projects. They are genuinely meeting the needs of the most in need in their communities. The report also celebrates the fact that these affordability gains are held ‘in perpetuity’ for the community.
Wellbeing - this describes the widely recognised benefits a community gains from the voluntary work of its members, and high levels of resident engagement. Economic models can translate these social benefits into monetary value (reduced support costs, higher productivity etc).
The report showed that for every £1 invested in Community Led Housing the return over 10 years was between £1.80 and £2.70 - a ‘substantial’ return and a clear endorsement of the value of this sector.
'Housing by the Community, for the Community – An Assessment of the Value for Money of Community-led Housing in England' is available here: www.communityledhomes.org.uk/resource/housing-community-community