There has been an increasing need over time for more affordable housing in Longhope, but various attempts to provide affordable housing through the usual channels have not been successful.
The first step in the journey towards a better solution for local housing has been a working party set up in May 2018 under the auspices of Longhope Parish Council. There has been a steep learning curve finding out more about community land trusts, which are a relatively new mechanism for providing housing under local control that is permanently affordable, with no right to buy.
Current local developments will not address the needs of all the households reflected in the recent Longhope Housing Needs Survey, nor those members of Longhope families who have had to move away from the area.
Community land trusts (CLTs) can either become their own housing associations to develop and manage properties, or they can form a partnership with an existing housing association. Longhope CLT has formed a valuable working partnership with the Aster Group, a housing association that has developed the most CLTs in Gloucestershire. The Parish Council connection is no longer in place, as members of the working party have become the first “subscribers” or board members of Longhope CLT Ltd, a community benefit society incorporated in March 2020 which is the first of its kind in the Forest of Dean.
The board members of a new CLT are in post until the first AGM, when the constitution requires them all to resign their positions and new board members are then elected from amongst the CLT membership. The development of the Longhope project including the search for sites and funding has now reached the stage when major decisions for the village are on the horizon, and so it is timely for all local residents to get more closely involved.
May I encourage everyone who lives or works in Longhope and is interested in the provision of local affordable housing to become members of the CLT, so we can arrange our first AGM in the near future. Hard copies of the application form are in the village shop, or it can be downloaded from the Join Now button on this website home page .
We look forward to hearing from you.
Mike Phelps
Current CLT Chairman