Community-Led Housing and the Role of Housing Associations A HACT Learning Event Sally Thomas Head of Community InvestmentMay 2014

North Star Housing Group Parent company for Endeavour Housing Association and Teesdale Housing Association 3,200 homes in urban Teesside and rural Teesdale 630 supported housing units for a wide range of needs A two-year programme of organisational development and cultural consolidation Distributed leadership, being local, co-creation Strong Community Investment activity and ethos Think big, act small, start now ……

Strengthening communities Traditional community relationships focus on needs and problems; can reinforce a dependency culture Need to focus on community strengths: the capacities, skills, intelligence and expertise of people living in neighbourhoods A relationship-driven, rather than transaction-driven, approach services are extended rather than communities being funded community strengths are overlooked a perception that only outside professionals can help problems seen as a way of securing funding targeting intervention on individuals rather than communities

Community-Led Housing Projects Housing Co-ops Langridge and Norton Grange – 92 units - development and management / repairs Community-based housing Darlington HA, 4 Quaker Societies / charitable trusts – 265 units – management / repairs Community-owned housing Middlesbrough CLT – 5 units - management / repairs Empty Homes Programme Five Lamps – 4 units - management / repairs

Elements Agreements and contracts – tailored templates Funding – sew and grow, earned income Services – enabling, development, management, maintenance Locking in community interest – asset development Relationships – long-term

Gresham, Middlesborough Study the past if you would define the future Post-industrial decline Housing Market Renewal Controversy and confrontation Strong social networks / value base

It takes a community to make a community…… From Communities Under Threat to Community Land Trust Asset transfer of three houses for £3 Local lettings at affordable rent Added values – social and economic voluntary effort / sweat equity community construction team local spend / community-led regeneration

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much The residents of Gresham North Star Housing Group Middlesbrough Council Community Campus HCA, HACT, Isos, Jon Fitzmaurice

To lead the people; walk behind them Community leadership Relationships not transactions The collective economy / the social community Letting go and giving up; small is beautiful Next steps: more EHs, new-build, Neighbourhood Planning, Social Enterprises in Lettings and Repairs / Voids)

Successes and barriers Shared purpose and ethos – mutual benefits Making unequal partnerships work; working with difference A geographical / neighbourhood / practical focus Community-led delivery model; a focus on assets Money – diverse and flexible, income streams Developing whole organisational understanding Institutional barriers