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Dear Landowner,
As a responsible landowner, you are aware of the importance of making the best use of the vital resource you own. As government policies and subsidies for landowners have come and gone, you have had to consider what works best for you in terms of land-related business and finance. But these policies have sometimes limited your choices and tended to turn the focus away from the long term impact on the land and the town you border. Farming was once at the heart of this rural community, connected to the people of Frome via the town’s markets. That connection has dwindled as practices have changed and it’s harder to make decisions that create a lasting legacy for the land and the community.
FACLT is seeking for a way to re-establish a link to the town and protect future generations by allowing a small community led housing project to be developed on a portion of your land. If you find the following information interesting, we would love to meet with you to talk further.
John Clarke | Chair Frome Area Community Land Trust
Frome is not unique in having a housing shortage but it is suffering from a recent rapid growth in popularity and as a result, prices have risen sharply forcing some local people to move away.
The housing shortage will affect small businesses as Frome loses a cohort of young people who find it increasingly difficult to rent affordable homes here. There are currently over 800 households with a local connection to Frome on the Homefinder Register waiting for a social rented home. Sadly there are not many solutions to be found within the current housing system but Community Land Trusts (CLTs) offer a ray of hope. We formed Frome Area Community Land Trust (FACLT) to make that hope a reality.
Community land trusts – or CLTs – are democratic, non-profit organisations that own and develop land for the benefit of the community.
CLTs typically provide affordable homes and community gardens but sometimes civic buildings, pubs, shops, shared workspace, energy schemes and conservation landscapes.
CLTs are community organisations run by local people who want to make a difference to their community, by putting control of assets into the hands of local people.
CLTs protect community assets forever. They ensure that their homes are permanently and genuinely affordable.
CLTs act as long-term stewards of land and the assets on it. They ensure that it benefits the local community, not just for now but for every future occupier.
With a CLT development on your land, you would be allowing the provision of affordable rent for the life of those homes, without them being sold on the open market. This arrangement would provide secure housing for local people in housing need, allowing them to stay near their current family or networks.
CLTs are run by local people in partnership with housing providers and landowners, so you could be involved in shaping the local area for the long-term.
When community members talk about the things they would like to see in their community, very often land for growing food or preserving nature emerges as important. Some CLTs have made land available near to the homes built for allotments, and some CLTs have larger ambitions for community owned farms. These initiatives would ensure the land benefits the community.
As a strong group of skilled people with housing experience, FACLT can’t stand by and watch the community of Frome be divided by the current housing system without striving for an alternative. We are planning to build affordable housing that stays affordable for those with a local connection.
If we are to provide these homes we will need to find somewhere to build them.
Affordable homes for local people can be built on land that would otherwise be unavailable to private developers; usually agricultural land adjacent to the existing settlement. This is allowed under a national policy known as Entry Level Exception Sites. Under this policy, all the homes must be for local people and all must be affordable.
FACLT is also keen to find pockets of land within the town that might be made available at a reasonable price. This doesn’t sound easy but it’s been done in other towns and we are keen to talk to land owners. The farming community and rural landowners have a long history of helping local people, so we are appealing to farmers and landowners to ask if you would like to talk to us.
If you are interested in knowing more detail on how this could benefit you and your business please contact us or email: info@fromeareaclt.org
Email: info@fromeareaclt.org
Frome Town Hall
Christchurch Street West
Frome BA11 3EB
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