On Thursday 5th May 2022 Bath Co-operative Alliance, in collaboration with 3SG and Community Led Homes West ran a free workshop at Fairfield House in Bath to explore the potential for more Community Land Trusts in Bath and BANES.

The workshop was one of a series of workshops forming part of the Bath and North East Somerset Social Entrepreneurs Programme, led by the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) in partnership with 3SG. The workshop aimed to:

  • Help participants to understand models of Community-Led Housing, including Community Land Trusts and how they can deliver affordable housing and protect valued community assets
  • Enable experience sharing and learning from existing examples in Bristol and other emerging projects in and around BANES
  • Identify people who may be interested in setting up a community-led housing or CLT project in the area

If you are interested in BCA’s work on Community Land Trust please contact us.


What are CLTs?

Community land trusts – or CLTs – are democratic, non profit organisations that own and develop land for the benefit of the community. They typically provide affordable homes, community gardens, civic buildings, pubs, shops, shared workspace, energy schemes and conservation landscapes. They are community organisations run by ordinary people who want to make a difference to their local community, putting control of assets into the hands of local people. CLTs act as long-term stewards of land and assets, ensuring they are put to the benefit of the local community, not just for now but for for the future. CLTs are now a worldwide movement. You can find out more about CLTs here – What is a Community Land Trust? | Community Land Trust Network (communitylandtrusts.org.uk)They commonly take the form of Community Benefit Societies with a democratic membership along co-operative principles.


Could we have more CLTs in Bath and BANES?

There are already groups setting up CLTs in Colerne, Marshfield and Corston as well as other groups a little further afield in Bristol, Seend, Taunton, Stroud and Weston-Super-Mare, for example. We are not yet aware of any groups in Bath itself – CLTs in towns and cities are not as common as those in more rural settings. You can find out more about the work of Community Led Homes West here – Community-Led Homes West – West of England Hub (communityledhomeswest.co.uk) and their work to bring about more “Housing for the people, by the people.”