A NEW network aims to help rural communities provide affordable housing for local residents.

The National Community Land Trust Network will provide support and services to rural residents across England.

It follows a government pledge to make it simpler for communities to provide homes for local people.

The network will provide legal, financial and development advice to Community Land Trusts (CLTs).

Key to its work will be sharing good practice to deliver affordable housing, workspace and community facilities using the CLT model.

The network will be partly funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The need for a coordinating organisation for CLTs was identified by Community Finance Solutions, a team of experts from Salford University.

Their work was supported by the Carnegie UK Trust.

Trust chief executive Martyn Evans said the CLT sector offered real hope for England's rural communities.

“The lack of housing that is affordable is possibly the single most pressing problem for rural England,” he said.

“We have witnessed a surge of interest in CLTs with local people taking action to make their communities a thriving sustainable place to live for all ages.

“Now this growing number of CLTs has an independent national organisation to act for them and to ensure each has access to the best technical advice.”

Project director Bob Paterson said the Community Land Trust movement could achieve real benefits for rural communities.

“This is not a new concept – but it is one that works,” said Dr Paterson.

“While every trust has to be designed for its own community, they have in common that each provides benefit to its local community.”

Any profits made by a trust are reinvested and decisions about assets and developments taken by the whole community.

“The new network can be the catalyst for many more communities to look at adopting this model to find new homes for local people.”

The network will be hosted and managed by the National Housing Federation.

It was selected following a two-year project to bring together stakeholders involved in developing the sector.

They included existing CLTs, housing associations, development trusts, lenders, local authorities and government agencies.

Federation chief executive David Orr said his organisation was pleased to have the opportunity to host the new network.

“The National Community Land Trust Network is a huge step forward that will allow communities setting up CLTs to learn from existing trusts.

“We have an important job ahead of us to help it build its network and make sure the different players can work together to support new and existing schemes.”

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