A £2.5m investment from Resonance Community Developers (RCD) will help build  nineteen homes in York, strengthening the community and providing much-needed affordable housing for local people.

There is a proven market failure to deliver enough affordable, low-carbon housing in York, noted in the draft Local Plan 2023. That’s why YorSpace, a Community Benefit Society and Community Land Trust, is bringing forward community-led housing developments across the city. 

YorSpace are working with City of York Council, York residents and a team of  local professionals to deliver affordable housing projects. Their vision is to create an alternative route to housing that empowers the people of York to create and fund their own low cost, environmentally sustainable and resilient communities. The first project is Lowfield Green, Westfield, York.

The goal of the investment is to enable YorSpace to develop fourteen affordable low-carbon homes at Lowfield Green, York: YorSpace and Lowfield Green Housing Co-op have been working with People Powered Homes Ltd (a community coordinator for RCD) to bring forward development of a former school site. The scheme forms a section of a larger site which has been developed by City of York Council for private, affordable, and self-built housing.

YorSpace has planning permission approved to build nineteen homes to Passivhaus Standard, and with sale costs to the residents being no more than 80% of the comparable open market rate. They have secured the site via a land sale contract with City of York Council that was completed in January 2023.

“In a city that has left many people behind, YorSpace CLT is on a mission to create lower cost, low-carbon communities in York, that are designed by and for the people that live here. As a Community Land Trust we're here to lock land and buildings away into community ownership and use those assets to help the people of York in building community wealth for its citizens.

“The challenges faced with getting our first project at Lowfield Green off the ground have been complex and varied. At times it has felt like this project might never happen as both grant funding and investment have been hard to access since 2020. Resonance's commitment to invest in our community enterprise has helped to unlock grant funding and made our project viable.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the team from Resonance Community Developers, whose shared social aims and values align perfectly with our own.

“Through our ongoing relationship with RCD we hope to share our learning with other like-minded organisations, to pave the way and make it easier for them to deliver upon their own visions for a fairer and more equitable society.” Laurie Smith, CEO, YorSpace CLT

YorSpace is just one CLT in the growing network across the county - there are over 550 Community Land Trusts in existence or in the process of being formed[1] .CLTs are stepping up where it counts - there are currently 112,660 households in England living in temporary accommodation, including 146,800 children.[2] It is estimated that England needs 340,000 new homes – including 145,000 affordable homes – by 2031, to meet current demands.[3] This is why the work of CLTs like YorSpace are crucial, empowering communities to take ownership and deliver affordable homes to local people. According to the Community Land Trust Network, there is a market opportunity to develop at least 278,000 community-led homes.[4] YorSpace are working to deliver affordable homes and strengthen their community, with the help of RCD. 

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[1] https://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/about-clts/what-is-a-community-land-trust-clt/

[2] https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/how-many-people-are-homeless-in-the-uk-and-what-can-you-do-about-it/

[3] https://www.housing.org.uk/our-work/building-new-homes/#

[4] https://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/news-and-events/new-research-shows-potential-for-278000-more-community-led-homes/