The historic village of Kennett in East Cambridgeshire is going to double in size. A total of 500 new homes will be built on the edge of the small parish, which sits at the easternmost spur of the county that stretches into Suffolk. 

Planning was waved through in April for four new neighbourhoods and a new village centre with a primary school, a pub, a workspace, new cycle routes and a post office. 

Although there was some opposition (150 letters of objection were received from residents), there was not the usual furore caused by the clash of construction and countryside.

This was because the proposals were put together by the community, for the community, and they had the final say. Plans were approved by a majority of 70:30 in a residents’ vote.

“The attitude was that development was going to happen, so they took control, and were awarded the land by the council instead a private developer”

“This was a local referendum. The process has more democratic legitimacy than any other comparable scheme,” says Tom Chance, director of the National Community Land Trust Network. Mr Chance will be speaking about community-led development at the Festival of Place at Tobacco Dock in London on 9 July (tomorrow). 

The attitude of the majority of the locale was that a new development was going to happen whether they wanted it or not, so they took control, formed a community land trust (CLT) and were awarded the land by the council instead of it going to a private developer.

They are running their own project to ensure the long-term benefit to the community, Mr Chance explains.

Community land trusts were born out of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, as a way for African American farmers to protect their land from corrupt and racist authorities.

These vehicles are run by ordinary people to develop and manage homes as well as other assets important to that community, such as social enterprises, food growing or workspaces. In austerity Britain, they are fast gaining momentum.

“A decade ago, only 14 CLTs were in operation in the UK. There are now 333”

House prices in the South East and the UK’s cities rose rapidly following the global banking collapse through a supply-demand imbalance, an influx of international wealth looking for a safe haven and quantitative easing. The increased formation of CLTs is a direct response to the resulting affordability crisis. 

A decade ago, only 14 CLTs were in operation in the UK. There are now 333. Nearly 1,000 homes have been built to date and there are more than 5,000 homes in the pipeline, with over 17,000 volunteers responsible for them. 

“CLTs act as long-term stewards of housing, ensuring that it remains genuinely affordable, based on what people actually earn in their area, not just for now but for every future occupier,” says Mr Chance. 

He cites the London CLT that built 23 flats in Mile End in a structure that means prices will stay pegged to local wages. 

Volunteers in nearby Tottenham, after a tireless campaign, have followed suit. Four years ago the 11-acre St Ann’s Hospital site was sold to a developer who gained planning permission to build 425 homes, with just 14 per cent allocated as affordable.

“Sadiq Khan was so impressed with the CLT that he bought the land using his new £250m land fund”