Calder Valley Community Land Trust – new housing solutions for Hebden Bridge

As with many areas that developed around the growth of traditional industries, Calder Valley went through a period of industrial decline through the later twentieth century. The textile industry waned in the 1960s and 70s and the area suffered from consequent depopulation.

The challenge in such areas is in how to diversify and transform the local economy, so that losses in traditional manufacturing jobs can be balanced by attracting investment in new kinds of employment. Hebden Bridge, like other areas, recognised this challenge and in fact, the fortunes of the area have now changed significantly.

The area has regenerated and become recognised as a pocket of ‘metropolitan life’, tending to attract a younger population in particular. Its popularity is reflected in having higher land and property values compared to Yorkshire in general, but this has also created new challenges. So while Hebden Bridge is an attractive place for younger people, its higher rental and sales values makes it challenging in terms of access to housing.

Calder Valley’s towns have been described as regenerating ‘from the bottom up’. Hebden Bridge Town Hall was the first asset transfer in the country, with a charitable body taking on the building. Thus, the community-led approach was already embodied in the area when the Community Land Trust (CLT) came into being.

Following around a year in planning, Calder Valley Community Land Trust Ltd was established in 2014 as a community benefit society in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. It aims to serve the communities of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd. The focus of CVCLT is on community-led development to provide affordable housing and on holding land and buildings on behalf of the community.

CVCLT has been brought into being through the joint efforts of Todmorden Pride and Hebden Bridge Partnership (the two town partnership organisations, representing voluntary organisations locally). Local people came together to discuss the idea of establishing a local community land trust. As CVCLT states:

The decision to establish a CLT was based on them being a tried and tested model that had worked well in other towns in Britain. A CLT is a charitable body under direct community control. This fitted the requirements for the Calder Valley very well.

Calder Valley’s shortage of affordable rental housing was a key factor in establishing the CVCLT. Hebden Bridge Partnership (the community-led town team) had prepared a local strategy, proposing new housing. Part of the motivation for establishing CVCLT was the desire for the community to do something for themselves in providing housing, rather than just relying on the commercial market.

Indeed, the focus of CVCLT is on housing. This complements the work of Hebden Bridge Partnership, which is focused on wider economic development. For community organisations, it is useful to be aware of the wider strategic context and of work being undertaken by other public and third sector bodies. This helps to ensure that different initiatives by different bodies complement each other as much as possible, to meet the needs of the local area.

CVCLT’s vision is securing a vibrant future for all in the Calder Valley by holding land and buildings sustainably on behalf of the community.

The project has an underlying ethos of the community providing for itself. The CLT wants to create houses for people to be proud of. To make this work, it was essential to attract trustees with a range of skills and experience.

Trustees elected at the AGM in 2015 included a chartered surveyor, writer and journalist, housing consultant, architect and lecturer, local government officer, joinery business owner, a charitable trust director, manager from a social housing organisation, biochemist and researcher, and a civil engineer and lecturer. Thus, there was experience of governance and third sector organisations, but also of development and housing. This balance of skills on the Board is considered of key importance in making the CVCLT effective.

CVCLT is a member-led organisation. It has more than 60 members, who elect the ten trustees. In its 2016 annual report, the CLT stated:

In addition to the Hebden Bridge housing scheme, CVCLT is involved in two other significant projects.

The Fielden Centre in Todmorden is a Grade II listed former art school, which was gifted to the CLT by the previous private owners. The building has been restored. The CLT works very closely with the Fielden Centre Association charity, which manages and operates the building which is available for hire for a range of functions, by businesses or community groups.

The CLT has entered into partnership with the local Todmorden Almshouse charity, John Eastwood Homes, for a development project in Walsden. This involves the building of six two-bedroom bungalows for independent living.

The aim is for the bungalows to be models of sustainable, environmentally friendly construction. The scheme will complement twelve bungalows that John Eastwood has built previously. Calderdale Council transferred the land to CLT in 2016. Building work is expected to be well advanced during 2017.

To guide its projects, CVCLT has prepared and adopted a Sustainability Policy. This covers many aspects of sustainable design and construction. The first commitment and principle is:

‘to use Bioregional’s 10 Principles of One Planet Living as a framework for delivering on our sustainability commitments.’

These principles deal with a range of issues, including health, employment, culture, habitats, water use, food, sustainable materials, transport and waste.

This is a brownfield site, which was previously occupied by housing demolished as part of slum clearance programmes in the 1960s. The site is roughly triangular and lies to the west of Hebden Bridge Town Centre, between the A646 and Heptonstall Road.

One of the challenges in redeveloping the site is the topography. There is a considerable slope on the land. Houses need to ‘cling to the hillside’. Also Hebden Bridge flooded in 2015. These factors make the site relatively unattractive to commercial developers and was part of the reason for choosing the site.

CVCLT’s approach is to see if housing can be brought back to parts of the town that were once built-up. Their main focus has been on the High Street area, which was once a major area of housing, until the aforementioned slum clearances of the 60’s.

The brownfield status of the site and the location, within easy walking distance of the town centre, make this a good and sustainable location for housing.

Another factor in selecting the site was community engagement. In November 2014, open workshops were held at Hebden Bridge Town Hall. This explored whether the public was supportive of the idea of setting up a CLT. But also, the public was asked to help suggest sites that would be suitable for housing. This led to the High Street site being identified.

CVCLT has a good relationship with Calderdale Council. The Hebden Bridge site and another site in Todmorden were both in the ownership of the local authority, but are being transferred to the CLT at nil cost. By making the sites available on this basis, the local authority is able to make affordable housing far more viable, by removing land costs from the equation.

This is an enlightened approach by the local authority. As budgets tighten, the focus of many local authorities is on maximising receipts through the disposal of building and land assets. By making the land available, Calderdale Council is enabling regeneration through the development of affordable housing, with the associated social, economic and environmental benefits that it brings.

The project is still at a developmental stage, but is described in the following terms:

A common problem with community-led development is the cost of feasibility studies and of professional fees from design schemes to planning stage. For community projects, it is essential to establish feasibility before taking on sites. Also, many funders require schemes to have been designed and to have planning permissions in place, before awarding grants. This creates a dilemma as there are obviously costs associated with proceeding to a stage at which grants can be obtained.

The Community-led Buildings fund, managed by Locality on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government, provides a practical solution.

Pre-feasibility grants cover feasibility studies, whilst further funding is available for project development costs. This includes professional fees for things like survey works, design, project cost estimates, and other expenses. Grants from this programme were obtained by CVCLT to consider feasibility and then for designing and costing the scheme.

• Community Buildings (DCLG) £47,700
• National CLT Network – £4615
• Community Foundation for Calderdale – £4300
• Todmorden Pride – £300
• Hebden Bridge Partnership – £300

The pre-feasibility grant enabled the commissioning of initial survey, engineering and design works for this site. This initial stage included the following elements:

• Geo-environmental desk-based survey
• Flood risk assessment
• Structural engineering input
• Full topographical survey
• Architectural initial concepts and options
• Community engagement.

The various surveys were aimed at establishing that the site was capable of being developed and to identify specific site issues that would need to be addressed. The engineering input was very important, given the site’s topography and the consequent challenges in making development stable.

The architect input at this stage was fairly conceptual, looking at options for the site, which could then be considered through community engagement.

The following Project Support grant enabled further site investigation, detailed design work, and market testing and analysis. This analysis included consideration of unit sizes and build costs. The main elements of this stage were:

• Architectural design
• Community consultation
• Quantity surveyor fees
• Highways liaison, including consideration of traffic management issues
• Planning liaison
• Project management

A project manager leads the current project development work and this role was included in the funding application, to provide overall project coordination on behalf of the CLT. This is essential where the capacity of volunteers is limited.

The architectural team was tasked to develop the scheme to a level of detail required for planning applications. In addition, the architect team is closely involved in liaising with the local authority on planning and highways matters.

Given the diversity of skills needed to undertake the different elements of the pre-feasibility work, consultants were procured separately rather than tendering the works collectively. In this instance, this was considered to be the best approach to securing the different elements of the pre-feasibility work within the necessary timeframe and budget.

In commissioning professional services for development projects, it is essential to select consultants with the necessary skills and experience. Care is requiring in writing briefs for the works, setting out clearly what is required, and the skills and experience necessary to undertake the work. Appointing under-skilled professional teams in the interests of cost-cutting can be an expensive mistake.

In commissioning professional services for development projects, it is essential to select consultants with the necessary skills and experience. Care is requiring in writing briefs for the works, setting out clearly what is required, and the skills and experience necessary to undertake the work. Appointing under-skilled professional teams in the interests of cost-cutting can be an expensive mistake.

An alternative approach is to invite tenders from lead consultants, which would then put together a team of sub-contractors. Quite often, the architects lead such coalitions. This can be simpler to manage, as the lead consultant is then responsible for managing the other contractors. However, for the Hebden Bridge pre-feasibility stage, this was considered to be over-complicated given the small amount of money involved. Also, one of the consultants selected was able to advise on the selection of other consultants with the necessary skills to undertake different elements of the work.

CVCLT was very clear on the need for the selection of architects to include consideration of their ability to work collaboratively, involving the local community in the design process. The same firm of architects was used at the pre-feasibility stage and then to develop the project for planning submission. However, there were separate tenders for each stage.

Careful consideration should generally be given over whether it is necessary to retender. There are clear advantages in continuity. In this instance, the architects already had in-depth knowledge of the site and of the aspirations and required outcomes of the project.

For the design stage undertaken using the second grant, different consultants were procured separately, as with the pre-feasibility stage. The project manager was procured on a consultancy basis, not through direct employment. As mentioned, the architects that had been involved at the pre-feasibility stage also won the tender to undertake the detailed design works. The quantity surveyor appointed had worked previously on a local community project involving the local town hall, an asset transfer.

CVCLT recognises that design is very important to delivering successful projects and the adoption of a sustainability policy is aimed at achieving sustainable development and considering innovative construction techniques and materials. This can lead to long-term reductions in energy consumption and running costs.

CVCLT recognised that community engagement was essential from the earliest stages of the project. The CLT’s ethos is that the community can take control:

The CLT has a strong board of trustees with a wide range of skills and experience. However, there is also a capacity issue as is often the case with people who are working voluntarily. Possible solutions to this could include employing paid staff or developing partnerships.

For this project, the employment of a project manager is a practical solution. As mentioned, the role was included in the funding application. This brings in both skills and capacity to help deliver the project.

CVCLT intends to retain the freehold of the site, ensuring that it is managed as a community asset in the long term. However, to manage the lettings they may seek to work with an experienced estates manager, such as a Registered Provider (previously termed Registered Social Landlords).

There is a possibility that a Registered Provider could also be a development partner for the CLT. This could be a way of bringing in useful experience of the development process.

CVCLT was asked about advice it would give to others considering similar projects. Their responses were insightful:

• Just do it, but be prepared for hard work, the long haul and for setbacks
• Cling to the underlying purpose and vision of the project
• Strong leadership and governance are essential
• The Board must have the necessary range of skills and experience
• Learn from the experience of other, similar organisations
• Make use of networks and of support organisations such as Locality and the CLT network
• Find out about any local strategies and any projects being done by other local organisations
• Community and stakeholder engagement are essential if projects are to be effective, to meet local need and gain community support
• It is important to consider project management when preparing funding bids
• Consider partnering with experienced housing providers in order to bring in the necessary skills
• Acquiring land on a no-cost basis makes affordable housing far more feasible. This can include asset transfer of local authority land (or buildings)
• The feasibility study is essential before proceeding, to make sure a scheme is viable
• Good design is crucial to achieving effective, successful and sustainable projects.

In December 2017, after a lot of hard work CVCLT received planning permission for their first development of six bungalows. These are designed for independent living for older people in Birks Lane, Walsden, which will be made available at levels of rent which are affordable.

Funding has been secured from Homes England, Calderdale Council and the Quaker Housing Trust to be aligned with social investment. Tendering for contracts will take place in early 2018 with a planned spring start on-site date.

In December 2017 CVCLT also received news that their application for Homes England Investment Partner Status and their preliminary Registered Provider application had been successful. In January 2018, the full and detailed Registered Provider application was submitted to Homes England. These applications will enable the CLT to access the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 16-21.

Meanwhile, further development funding was drawn down to support the high street development and pay for survey costs, and intensive work started on the community share offer. The community share offer is planned for spring/summer 2018 to contribute a significant amount of the capital build costs for the high street site.