CCB will be partnering with the Collaborative Housing Hub to deliver a training event for communities interested in addressing the chronic shortage of affordable homes in Berkshire. This event, taking place in June, will enable communities to explore the many options they have to take control of the whole process, from understanding local need to owning and managing their own homes.

The term community-led housing means homes built by a community with their own needs at heart. It means the community play a leading role in deciding where homes are built, who they are built for and how they will be managed. Community-led housing is genuinely affordable, meets the need of people with a demonstrable connection to the community and will remain in community ownership in perpetuity, meaning it can’t be sold on for a profit.
The West Berkshire Vision 2036 includes ambitions for “a housing mix with something for everyone”. It recognises that the population is ageing rapidly, that local children are being priced out of the areas where they grow up and recognises a need for more affordable housing. Community-led solutions will be critical to addressing these issues and achieving the ambitions in the Vision.

CCB’s Rural Housing Enabler project led to three community-led housing schemes being built in West Berkshire: Chaddleworth, Hungerford and Woolhampton. In these examples, homes were built for local people and will only ever be available to people with a local connection. These rural exception site developments were made possible by the community demonstrating a need for homes for local people, and finding a plot of land which wouldn’t normally be available for housing, meaning that it could be purchased at a very low price. The homes are managed by Registered Providers and are let at affordable rates.

Community-led housing is more than just rural exception site developments. Community Land Trusts, cooperative housing, co-housing, community self-build and tenancy self-management are typical examples of community-led housing. All these models will be explored at this training event, helping attendees to develop a broader awareness of the options they have to increase the availability of genuinely affordable homes for people in Berkshire.
For more information, please contact Tim Parry at tim.parry@ccberks.org.uk