Appendix B: What is Community Led Housing?

Community Led Housing enables people and communities to take the lead in providing their own housing solutions, creating affordable, sustainable, high-quality homes for the community. It helps achieve many of the Council’s objectives for housing, communities and rural sustainability; it:

1. Delivers new homes, including permanent affordable homes, for local people – not only are these homes genuinely affordable, but they are also designed and delivered by local people as a direct response to identified need.

2. Delivers additional supply that would not be built by mainstream developers - community led housing groups frequently have access to or are willing to develop on sites previously unavailable or unattractive for development, including small sites. This means they are perfectly placed to deliver smaller schemes such as those recommended within the Rural Commission Report. They are also frequently able to overcome local opposition to new development, by virtue of being led and trusted by the community.

3. Supports the sustainability of rural communities – the current projects planned are predominantly based in rural areas. They are providing good quality affordable housing for low and medium income families, allowing them to stay in the area and supporting the viability of schools and other services.

4. Helps create more empowered and resilient communities - Community Led Housing empowers local people to make decisions about their local area and be part of the solution. By owning their own assets, the groups are able to adapt quickly and respond to changing needs, as many groups demonstrated during the pandemic and are currently demonstrating during the cost-of-living crisis.

5. Enables older people to live well in their communities - Community Led Housing, and particularly cohousing, enables older people to be part of active and self-sufficient communities that foster mutual care and support. This enhances well-being, addresses loneliness and isolation, and reduces dependency on social care services at a time of public spending pressure.

6. Community Led Housing supports regeneration and brings empty properties back into use, creating opportunities for jobs, skills and training for local people. There are many examples of community self-help projects across Yorkshire and the Humber, which upskill those who are currently unemployed or homeless, renovate empty properties, and deliver affordable homes and supported tenancies where required.

7. Community Led Housing delivers to high environmental standards; homes are planned and built with both future climate challenges and running costs in mind. There are many demonstrable examples of this across the country which show how Community Led Housing can deliver on our climate change ambitions and net zero targets.