Community Led Housing Hub Cumbria & Lancaster
What is community led housing?
Housing which is built or brought back into use by local people
Projects genuinely understood and supported by the community
Homes owned or managed by people in the community
Benefits to local community are legally protected in perpetuity
What is the CLH hub?
Part of a national movement to help communities take action on housing
Hosted by ACT, trusted community development charity with 70 years’ experience
A first port of call for advice, resources and useful contacts
What does the hub do?
One-to-one support helps you progress more quickly
Introduce you to professionals
Connect with local planners
Identify other potential partners
Networking opportunities with other community housing groups
Advice on building sustainable, low-energy homes
How to do it
Who are you and what are you going to do? You can form a group simply by talking to other local people about your ideas. Make sure you are aware of those in your area who you could work with, or whose purposes are in line with your own. You may be able to help each other.
Find out what people think
Find out what people think about new houses being built and explain why this is important by completing a Housing Needs Assessment and holding a public meeting. It may be useful to engage with your Parish Council at this early stage.
To help your Parish Council understand options around Affordable Housing and what you are trying to do, there is a useful guide, produced by the Rural Housing Alliance which includes information about Community Land Trusts.
The Hub can help you
- Identify your housing needs or carry out a Housing Needs Survey
- Organise information for a Business Plan
- Explore options for your group structure
Useful links
ACRE produces a guide on completing Housing Needs Assessments.
Locality has a housing needs assessment guide for communities developing Neighbourhood Plans which you can also use as a guide for a community led housing project.
The National Community Land Trust Network provides useful guidance on what to consider if you decide to become a Community Land Trust.
There are some important things to understand early-on so that you make choices at this early stage which fit with your project aspirations and financial undertakings further down the road.
You will be working out what sort of homes you want to build and how many; who they are for and whether they are for rent or sale; if you want to manage the build and ongoing maintenance or work with someone else to do this, for instance a Housing Association.
If you enter into a partnership with a Housing Association they could build the homes, find the tenants and manage the properties. They can do as much or as little of this as you decide.
These are big decisions
These are big decisions. Making the best choices early on will set you off in the right direction. Please contact the Hub when you would like some help exploring these options. Some further hints, tips and questions are included here to help you think this through.
More information
Once you have enough people interested in your group, it needs to be a legally recognised body before it can make any commitments or draw down any funding. There may already be a community organisation locally that can be expanded and be responsible for the project. If so, you need to know if the existing constitution is acceptable. Does housing fall within its existing remit? If not, it may be necessary for the constitution to be amended.
The homes may be for a group wanting to develop cheaper affordable homes for themselves. This may involve managing the scheme or even helping to build the houses. You may want to provide affordable homes for local people who can’t afford homes in the area because of high prices or because they are in lower paid work.
The number and type of homes will be dependent on the result of your housing needs survey and may be limited by the sites or land available.
You may be able to fund your scheme through grants, loans or a mixture of both. Generally, you may need to become a charity to qualify for grant funding. You also might think about linking with a Housing Association or even become one so that you can access Affordable Housing Grant through Homes England.
Your group will need to be legally formed before you can apply for a mortgage or loan. There are many potential funding sources to help you form a group including possible grants from your Council and Charitable bodies.
For help getting organised contact the Hub.
Talk to the Hub about finding a site, if you don’t already have one in mind. Your Local Authority or local Land Agents will have lists of potential sites. It may be that you are interested in reclaiming an old building for housing.
A list of public land available for development is here.
Land for sale which is suitable for housing can also be found at the Self Build Portal.
You will want to check out the feasibility of any sites which are available for development, and make sure that your estimates for costing take into account any factors relating specifically to the site. All of the information you gather about your site will be needed to inform your Business Plan and when you apply for Planning Permission.
It is worth bearing in mind that land which may not be earmarked for housing can be considered if it meets local need for ‘affordable’ housing for local people.
If there isn’t already a map of your identified site it will be useful to get one: You can buy a plan from the online Planning Portal or direct from the Ordnance Survey.
The Hub can
- Put you in touch with people who have sites for development, including empty properties
- Assist with Land Registry search process
- Flag up site considerations for you to investigate and advisors to help
Legal Issues
Check for any restrictions that may affect how the site is developed. There may be factors which significantly affect your costs or may even mean that the site isn’t right for your proposals at all. You will need to know about interests in the land including rights of way, historic covenants and protection for wildlife and habitats.
Check title deeds and plans which can be obtained from the Land Registry.
You should always seek help from a legal adviser who will help you to understand the implications of any restrictions and if these can be removed or changed. Restrictions are often put on land when it is sold so that the seller can control what is done for various reasons or so that they get a share in any increase in value. Sometimes these restrictions are very old and the person putting these restrictions on the land may no longer be around.
Not all legal restrictions will be on title deeds as some are placed on land by the local Council such as rights of way, building preservation orders, tree protection orders and protection of plants and animals. There may also be restrictions placed on the nearby roads by the Council’s Highways Department which may affect any access into the land.
Many of these matters are considered when you submit a planning application, but you need to understand them before you get to that point as you may find that they stop you developing the site or make it too costly.
Further guidance on planning can be found here.
Technical Issues
Map out and consider the implications of drains, pipes or cables which cross your site. You may have to pay for these to be moved, or factor in working around them.
You’ll need water, drains, electricity and telephone wiring nearby to connect your site. If existing service points are some way off, the cost for connection may be very high. There may be other practical considerations to discuss with these service providers early on.
You will need to contact utility companies to make sure that the local system can cope with more houses.
For a site which already has buildings on it, also consider the cost of demolishing or refurbishing the buildings. If the buildings are ‘listed’ (Listed as being of Architectural or Historical Interest), or if they are in a Conservation Area, you should take specialist advice.
There may be issues about contaminated land which need addressing and you should be aware if the site has a history of flooding. Local knowledge can help here.
Purchase
You should get help from an Adviser for this stage of the work. Your local council may be able to help with grant funding.
Before spending money on further plans or applying for planning permission, the land needs to be bought or legally reserved. You may be able to agree to buy the land subject to getting planning permission and funding so that you can reserve it but back out if something goes wrong.
The price you pay should be no more than a registered valuer decides it is worth. A bank may insist on using their own valuer unless you they agree that they will accept the figures from your appointed valuer.
If the value of the land is more than £125,000, you will need to pay stamp duty on the price you pay for the land and you need to allow for this in your Business Plan. These figures can change if the Government changes them in the budget, but you can find out more about Stamp Duty Land Tax here.
You will need a legal adviser to help you with buying the land and to carry out any checks needed. You can get help with this from the Adviser Pool.
Once you have bought the land you will be responsible for it so you need to take out Public Liability insurance. This is to protect you from any claims made by others. Ideally you will take over the land and then pass it to the builder on the same day so that you can ask the builder to be responsible until you take over the completed houses.
If there are existing buildings that you are converting or other buildings that have value, you will also want to take out insurance against them being damaged.
The decision by your Local Planning Authority to allow you to build what you want, where you want, is made through a successful application for Planning Permission. Without this permission you cannot progress to building. You will be using all the information you have gathered to date, and the details you have worked up with the professionals who are supporting your project, to show that your proposal meets local and national planning stipulations.
Talk to the Hub about funding which may be available through your Local Authority to help meet costs associated with preparing to make a Planning Application. Pre-planning advice is sometimes offered for free by Local Authority Planning Officers, but there will be other support and development costs (professional fees for Architects and Planning Consultants for instance, and costs for Feasibility studies and Housing Needs Surveys). You will find the support you need through our Adviser Pool.
The Hub can
- Connect you with your Local Planning Authority for pre-planning advice
- Introduce experts who can help you present information to the Planning Authority
- Help with Housing Needs Assessment
Expand all Collapse all
Sustainability
Why build low-energy homes?
- Low-energy homes have high levels of insulation and airtightness, which reduces the amount of heating needed and therefore the amount of energy used. Your residents could have heating bills of around £200 a year, compared to £1200 for the average family home!
- Low-energy homes can also be healthier to live in, as they’re free of dust and damp. That’s because of the clever ventilation systems they generally have.
Types of low-energy homes
- There are several common ways to build low-energy homes, ranging from block build to timber frame, and prefabricated homes where panels are put together on site.
- Prefabricated homes can reduce build time on site. Once your groundworks are done, some low-energy homes can be constructed on site in just a few days, ready for roofing and external rendering.
- See a short video of a low-energy home being erected near Kendal in Cumbria, made by Cumbrian firm Eden Insulation.
- One option for designing and building very low-energy homes is to follow one of the recognised building standards for these, such as Passivhaus. For retrofits of existing properties, there’s a version of Passivhaus called EnerPHit.
- When considering the cost of very low-energy buildings, factor in the whole lifecycle of the property, including the annual savings in energy bills for your residents, particularly in light of rising energy costs.
Clever features to think about
- Orientate buildings for maximum solar gain. Rooms that are used the most should be on the south side of buildings. Making the most of the Sun’s heat during the day will reduce the extra heating needed. It sounds simple, but it’s a key part of Passivhaus design.
- Using renewable energy is also central to creating low-energy homes. Consider renewables, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) for electricity generation and to heat water.
- For heating, many low-energy homes use a clever ventilation and heating system that captures the heat naturally created inside the house (heat generated by the residents and appliances, for example) and then redistributes it, mixed with fresh air from outside. A heating assessment is usually done to work out how much extra heat might be needed as a top-up. Ground-source and air-source heat pumps, biomass or wood-burning stoves are sometimes installed.
- Another option for heating is a ‘district heating scheme’. Instead of each home having its own heating system, a larger system serves all the homes in your development. Biomass boilers have been used in some housing developments. It may even be possible to capture waste heat from nearby industry, such as a factory. Find out more about district heating.
- Also consider the sustainability of the materials that will be used to build your homes. Products such as cement tend to have a high carbon footprint, for example. Think about the wider environmental impact of materials – including how they’re made or sourced and the distance they’ve travelled.
- Consider climate change resilience. When designing homes and gardens for the future, think about systems for capturing rainwater for flushing toilets and watering the garden. Clever garden design can even help keep homes warm in winter and cool in summer.
See for yourself!
- There’s a chance to visit low-energy homes and other clever buildings around the region every September, with the Cumbria Green Build & Sustainable Living Festival – find out more.
Permission and Regulation
To make a Planning Application you will need:
- a location plan using an ordnance survey map
- plans showing layout and size of the houses, and what they will look like on the site
- drawings which show outside space, parking areas and access routes
Obviously, you will be working with a range of professionals to get this information together and some of them will be able to help you make your case directly to the Planning Authority. When you are ready to apply, you will need to pay a fee to the Planning Authority.
Decisions should be made within 8-weeks, but can take longer. Conditions may be attached to satisfy the Council that you will do certain things which were not spelled out in your application.
Work with an Adviser to get Building Regulations approval once Planning Permission is secured. This is where you show that the houses will be safe, by design, and built to Government standards. This requires technical information from a Quantity Survey or Builder about how the houses will be built and what type of material will be used.
It’s a legal requirement to appoint a Principal Designer to make sure that all works are planned safely. You can get help from the Adviser Panel when you are thinking about this.
You will need permission from the energy and water companies if you are digging where cables and pipes are laid.
More information
General Principles
In almost all cases, planning permission will be needed for your community housing project. Other approvals may also be required depending on the type of scheme, for example if it involves works to a Listed Building, special Listed Building Consent will be required or if the site contains protected trees that are subject to a Tree Preservation Order you will need special permission to do any work that might affect them. There are also special rules and permissions needed if your site is in a Conservation Area. These approvals should be considered at an early stage in the development of your scheme. Work with a Planning Consultant to understand the issues relevant to your plans.
When you have found a possible site or an existing building for conversion, you need to look into its planning status and suitability for housing development. Find the housing officer based in your local Council who will be able to help with this. It is important that you approach the housing officer first as the Council’s Planning Department may charge for pre-application advice. You might get around this by asking your housing officer to open the discussion on your behalf.
Your local Council deals with Planning, apart from areas within the Yorkshire Dales or Lake District National Parks, in which case the planning authority is the National Park Authority.
Your local Council or the National Park Authority should have a Local Plan covering their area – or be working to agree one. Local Plans cover a wide range of topics, and usually identify land suitable for new development of all types, including housing, as well as showing areas to be protected from development. Check the status of your site in the Local Plan documents; it may be earmarked for housing, another use such as employment or agriculture, protected from development completely, or it may in some cases not have an allocation. We have links to relevant Local Plans on this page.
Planning policies often restrict development to protect attractive and valued landscapes, the character of historic rural villages, and other heritage assets. This must be balanced with the need to take account of local circumstances and the council must plan housing development taking into account local needs, particularly for affordable housing. This means that in certain circumstances and where a clear need is identified exceptions can be made and planning permission may be granted for affordable housing in locations where planning applications would normally be refused.
Councils can include policies for affordable housing development and Rural Exception sites in their Local Plans or other policy documents. Check the policy for your area with your local Council, or talk to the Hub to get more information.
Some communities in the area are preparing Neighbourhood Plans that deal with local issues and needs. You will probably have heard if there is a Neighbourhood Plan being prepared by a local group for your area and you should check to see if your proposed housing site might be affected by any policies or proposals being considered in the Neighbourhood Plan. Before a plan can be developed a Neighbourhood Area has to be agreed with the Council. One of the benefits of having a Neighbourhood Area agreed is that if you find a suitable site you may be able to build houses under the ‘Community Right to Build’. Neighbourhood planning gives communities direct power to develop a shared vision for their neighbourhood and shape the development and growth of their local area.
Information on Neighbourhood Planning is issued by the Government here.
Information and grant funding to develop a Neighbourhood Plan is also available from Locality, a National Charitable body.
Finer Details
Before giving permission, your Local Authority will want to know that you have considered other issues, including:
- Access: Is there existing safe access to your site for vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians? If not, can access be reasonable provided by new works?
- Site Features: Are there any features that would impact on your development such as flooding issues, contaminated land or protected trees? Would your scheme unduly affect your neighbours?
- Heritage: Is your site located in a Conservation Area? If so, particular care must be taken when designing new development so that your scheme will preserve and enhance the character of the area. Would your development impact on the setting of a nearby Listed Building or designated site of other special interest such as archaeological interest? Information will be available from your Council’s heritage and environment officers. Historic England is the National Body that provides information on Heritage matters.
Planning Guidance
The National Planning Policy Framework sets out the Government’s Policies and how they expect that they will be applied by local Councils.
The Planning Portal is a National ‘one-stop shop’ for Planning.
Design
National guides
The Government publishes information on design and quality and standards and space standards.
A useful guide to space standards is published by the Royal Institute for British Architects.
The Design Council provides guidance for Councillors on Urban Design.
A comprehensive guide to Urban Design originally published by English Partnerships and Homes England is available in the Government National Archives.
Local Guides
Your local Council has information about what they look for when considering designs for housing. You can also find information in your local Neighbourhood Plan or Village Design Statement if your community has produced one.
Each Local Authority has its own Design Guide:
- Allerdale Local Plan Part 1
- Allerdale Local Plan Part 2 (including site allocations)
- Carlisle Local Plan
- Copeland Local Plan
- Copeland site allocations
- Eden District Local Plan
- Lancaster Local Plan (under revision)
- South Lakeland Local Plan
National Parks
Special Planning rules apply to the National Parks largely to make sure that new buildings ‘fit in’ with the surroundings. If you put forward good designs there is much more chance that they will be accepted.
If you are in a National Park (Lake District or Yorkshire Dales), you should work with your local planners to comply with their building design guidance.
Energy Efficient Design
Homes should be well insulated and, if possible, have the main windows facing south to benefit from solar heating. Smaller windows such as bathroom windows should be north facing. South facing roofs are also useful so that solar panels can be fitted to lower heating bills. New houses should be laid out with this in mind – although it may not always be possible if houses are being fitted in between other rows of houses and where houses laid out in this way may overlook neighbours.
Guides to green design are provided by many local Councils. Talk to your Local Authority about their interest in Green Design and take advice from Cumbria Action for Sustainability at the design phase to integrate energy saving and carbon reduction ideas at an early stage.
Historic Environment
The historic environment can provide inspiration for new forms of development that complement existing places. If a building is Listed, or within a Conservation Area, this does not mean that a site cannot be developed, or a building cannot be converted to a new use. However, it does mean that buildings are legally protected and in the case of Listed Buildings, any changes either inside or outside will need special permission. It may mean that you would not get permission to demolish a building, but often such buildings provide excellent conversions and still have space for new extensions.
You will have worked out how hands-on your group wants to be long before you are actually at the build stage. It’s also possible that your ‘build’ is in reality a renovation or reclamation project. Whatever your project is, the time when work starts on site is likely to be exciting and stressful – and expensive.
There are different ways of managing your build, from appointing a development company or Housing Association who will project manage and deliver for you, through to individual self-build or self-finish projects. There are options in between with builders being engaged by the group and managed either directly or by an appointed project co-ordinator.
The Hub can help you
- Identify partners who can deliver your project with you
- Learn from the experience of other community projects
Expand all Collapse all
Developers and Self-Manage
You could get support from a builder or developer that appoints their own advisors to manage the process along the way with the group paying for the housing when it is finished. This is often referred to as ‘design and build’. Sometimes this can be useful as the builders may be able to make savings, for example they can work with the designer to use materials they can get cheaper. Bear in mind though that someone will need to make sure that the builders are doing their job properly and you will have more control if you employ your own separate advisors to oversee and manage the development and appoint a builder with their help.
If you do not commission a builder directly or involve a Housing Association you will need to manage the project yourself. Some groups want that greater level of control and therefore want to build the houses themselves. The group will still need technical support, to ensure the buildings are safe.
How will I find a Builder?
If you don’t have a specific building firm in mind, it’s useful to talk to others doing similar things and find out who they worked with and what their experience was. If you can’t find a builder through recommendations you could use a Trade Body like the Federation of Master Builders where you can search for quality builders in your area.
Remember, for many of the funding streams you will need to produce several quotes for the planned work. Use this opportunity to explore the style, quality and ethos of the different companies as well as the cost, as you will need to work very closely with them.
Establish a contract with your chosen builder setting out clearly what you expect them to do against a timetable. It’s normal practice to pay contractors in instalments. Your payment schedule can include a percentage which is retained at each installment. If something goes wrong this gives you some leverage to get it fixed. Similarly, once the build is finished, there is usually a ‘snagging’ period to identify any build issues or faults that may crop up in an agreed period of months afterwards. A withheld percentage of the final payment is made once these are satisfactorily sorted out.
Any planting schemes included in your design should come under a separate arrangement with the builder. This allows for maintenance over a couple of years after the houses are finished as any faults with planting schemes won’t be apparent immediately.
Consider taking out insurance in case the builder stops trading before your houses are finished and for any faults that you may find after they are finished. See, for example, advice from the NHBC.
Project Management
There are different ways in which projects can be managed depending on the type and size of project. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) sets out the stages of a building project and the services an architect can provide. This is split into seven stages and can be found on the RIBA website. An architect may call on other advisors where necessary.
You may want to have one adviser such as an architect who will work with other advisers such as a quantity surveyor or planner as part of their service. An alternative is that you have a technical co-ordinator who will help you with the early work, especially developing your business plan, commissioning the architect and other advisors and overseeing their work.
Managing a Builder
Before you agree for the builder to start you will need to think about when the builder will need to be paid and when you will be able to have your loan and/or grant funding in place so that you can pay the bills. You will also need to set aside a small amount extra for things that you didn’t expect such as the builder finds that there is a problem with the land, unusual weather that holds things up or if the design changes because something unexpected happens.
Once the builder starts on site they will take over the land, but you will still need to make sure that the builder takes good care of it and does not cause any problems with nearby residents. You will need to keep in touch with your neighbours and make sure your builder deals with any problems. This might be things like blocking local roads with vans, lorries causing problems when delivering materials or digging generating mud on local roads.
You will also need to make sure that the builder is getting the work done in the time you agreed and that the work is being done to a high standard. The earlier you spot any problems, the easier they will be to sort out. You will need to make sure that your builder keeps the site safe and everything is locked up.
You have a legal duty to make sure you comply with Health and Safety Regulations. This includes appointing a ‘Principal Contractor’ that will be responsible for this.
Once the drama of getting your homes built is over the work doesn’t stop! You have already planned how you will set rents and oversee tenants. Make sure you have good practices which can stand the test of time and any changes in personnel as time passes. Your group has committed to managing homes for your community for a long time.
The Hub can
- Help you develop transparent, fair policies and practices based on the experience of others
- Make sure your governance continues to be robust and appropriate, so you are confident and accountable
- Link you with others who have experience of similar issues
You may have some areas that are used by all the tenants such as corridors and stairs in flats, or parking areas and bin stores outside. You will have to arrange for these to be cleaned and repaired and pay for any electricity. You may want to charge the tenants a fair share of this separately or include it in the rent. If your tenants claim benefits for the rent, then this may not be covered by their benefits.
It is a legal requirement that you will need to arrange for safety checks each year for the heating and hot water systems. You will also need to take out insurance for any damage to the property and in case one of your tenants or someone going onto the property gets injured and you are deemed responsible.
You could ask a property manager to deal with all of this for you or you could ask a Housing Association to manage it. You can find out more in the Housing Associations section of the Develop your Plan page.
You should aim to make a small surplus that you should set aside for large things that will need replacing or repairing in the future such as a new roof or replacing boilers. If you make any ‘profit’ you will need to think about what you want to do with this.
Expand all Collapse all
Sustainability
- If your homes are built to a very high standard of energy performance and sustainability, make sure to bring this out in your rental or sales marketing. Tenants and buyers will be attracted by the prospect of very low energy bills and a healthy environment inside the homes.
- As with any heating system, if you’ve opted for a shared boiler for your development (district heating), factor in the ongoing servicing and maintenance.
- Also allow some management time for administering the income you may be gaining from renewables at your development.
- If you’ve installed biomass, you’ll need to factor in management time for ordering pellets, ensuring you source them from approved suppliers in line with requirements of the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.
- Allow management time for any communal facilities.
Getting started and keeping going
Before the homes are finished you will need to find someone to rent or buy them. Do this in good time but not so early that your potential tenants find something else. Allow at least three months to sign up your tenants before your houses are finished – longer if the houses are being sold.
Confirm with your builder that work will be completed on time.
Ongoing management responsibilities include:
- Collecting rent and deposits from the tenants
- Arranging for repairs and maintenance to be carried out
- Finding new tenants when people move out
- Cleaning and maintenance of any communal areas (stairs, parking areas, bin storage for instance)
- Annual safety checks on heating and hot water systems
- Ensuring empty property is locked, with water and power turned off
- Insurance to cover any damage to property or people for which you could be held responsible
Your business plan should have helped you plan to make a small surplus which can be used for both planned and unexpected maintenance. It is part of your role to monitor your finances regularly and make sure that your income can support all your foreseeable costs.
If you are working with a Housing Association (see some examples on our Links page) you may find that they can play a role in these ongoing considerations, in return for an agreed management fee. This suits some groups very well.
Advisers
Many building professions have membership or accrediting bodies. If you are not acting on a recommendation, you might want to consult these organisations for advice on local operators or look out for accreditation marks.
Case Studies
The Cumbria and Lancaster Community Led Housing Hub takes no credit for any of the work carried out by the groups listed here. They are examples of some of the extraordinary achievements of communities in Cumbria, Lancaster and further afield, showing a range of approaches and partnerships, but reflecting personal motivations and local interests.
