September 2023 Newsletter

Thank you for reading this newsletter – It’s important for us to have regular contact with our members and the wider Frome community. We’d like to hear what you think of our ideas and what we’re trying to do. We would certainly like to have you on board as we work towards creating genuinely affordable housing …

Do we need a conversation about housing vs green spaces?

It’s not an either-or situation; developments can provide both homes and green spaces. We must try to address the needs of those living in inadequate, poor-quality homes, paying increasing rent, and lacking security for their families, while continuing to provide green space and habitats for nature.

Intergenerational Housing – a solution for Frome?

One of the issues that Covid, or rather, the lockdowns brought into sharp relief was loneliness. If you lived alone during that period, or knew someone who did, isolation became a real problem and we have been talking about the metal health fallout of that ever since. If you are retired and live alone in …

High rents are a major contributor to poverty

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a leading social organisation campaigning against poverty, released its 2023 UK Poverty Report which found that one in 5 people (20%) in the UK are in poverty. This is equal to 13.4 million people with almost 4 million of those being children.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, JRF says that “Around half of private …

December 2022 Newsletter

December brings national news about raising housing standards in the rental sector, particularly socially rented housing and changes to the Levelling Up bill in respect to housing. We know that good quality homes are needed now more than ever and we are looking at ways of securing land to build for the community in perpetuity. …

Housing Crisis Declaration

We know that housing problems are national, even international, and that Frome shares issues like soaring rents, creeping AirBnB dominance and unchecked growth of empty second homes with many other towns. Could it be that residents of those locations can help us towards a solution?  Cities and rural areas alike are experiencing desperate housing needs …

Local Councillors develop closer ties with FACLT

Frome Area Community Land Trust (FACLT) held an information session in the council chamber for local councillors this month to deepen understanding of community land trusts. FACLT and its sister organisation Fair Housing for Frome have been working on plans to provide affordable housing for local people.  Roger Saunders, chair of FACLT said “With a …

New Housing and Carbon Footprint

Frome, like most towns in the UK, has a serious affordable housing crisis. Is it possible to meet this challenge while building to low or zero carbon standards? Reports from COP26 and the IPCC, over 2021-22, suggest we cannot afford not to. According to the IPCC, Greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 and should almost be halved by the end of the decade to give the world a chance of limiting future heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Any increase above 1.5C is likely to have catastrophic consequences for the stability of our climate.