BCLT 2021 Summer Newsletter
Hear from the team
Hello from the Chair – Patsy Hudson
It’s hard to believe that our first housing development at Fishponds Road is now five years old! Earlier this year we had our first residents move out and a new family of BCLT members move into one of the seven shared ownership homes. There will be another vacancy coming up soon, this time in one of the rental homes as you will see below.
As well as Fishponds, we also have a number of exciting partnership projects underway. As you will see elsewhere in this newsletter, the Lockleaze development led by Brighter Places (formerly United Communities) is taking shape with many of the residents now involved in self-finishing their homes under the guidance of Ecomotive. We are also at the early stages of a new partnership with a community near Bath which we hope to tell you about in a future edition.
If you would like to find out more about BCLT and community-led housing in general or would like the chance to help shape the direction of the organisation then do please join us at our AGM in September – more details below or consider becoming a volunteer or a trustee.
Building a thriving community-led housing sector - Steve Dale, CEO
A huge focus of BCLT’s work is about supporting other community-led housing projects to develop and thrive. We do this through CLH West – which we have hosted for the last couple of years. In that time we have built up a healthy pipeline of new projects – groups who want to do housing differently. CLH West provides advice and support to those groups and works with a range of organisations such as local councils and banks, to make sure that these community-led housing groups are able to get the land, the money and the support to make their dreams a reality. This work has been funded by Power to Change and Community Led Homes Enabling Fund and that funding is due to end in March 2020, so we are currently working really hard to raise the profile of community-led housing, to promote our sector and attract the money we need to keep on building. Here are just a couple of the initiatives that we are working on:
· Community-led housing Expo. October 11 – 22 is the annual Expo brought to you by our friends at Bristol Housing Festival and we will be curating our own section dedicated to community-led housing. You can expect a showcase of local CLH projects, inspiration from elsewhere in the country a CLH ‘Summit’ which aims to set the direction of CLH in the West of England.
· Community-led housing Round Table events. In the lead up to the CLH ‘Summit’ we will be holding Round Table sessions with local and national policy-makers, CLH groups and BCLT members to really understand what the opportunities and barriers to CLH are and what we can do to help the sector thrive.
· Membership development. We need to work hard to ensure that politicians and policy-makers are on board with community-led housing, but it doesn’t mean much if we are not representing the views and needs of our members and the wider community. That’s why we are redesigning our offer to members and we will be inviting you all to be a part of that process over the coming months. So, expect us to be in touch and ask: What can BCLT do for you and what can you do to help us? Do please get involved.
Save the date! BCLT's next member event and AGM on 9th September
We are really looking forward to hosting our next Member Event on the evening of the 9th of September, as we’ll finally be able to hold it in person, something we've all really missed greatly recently. 79 new members have joined the BCLT membership in the past year, swelling our membership to a huge 698, so we're hoping for a great turn-out!
There will be a bit of AGM business to get through as well, but we want to make the most of the opportunity to gather our members, and make it more than crossing the t's and dotting the i's for the organisation.
We have a great line up, and really hope that you can join us so that you can:
- Get involved in a workshop to shape the BCLT membership offer
- Hear from guest speakers who will be sharing their news on community-led housing projects from across the region
- Have the opportunity to test out your ideas for community-led housing with CLH West’s Wayshaper cards
- Socialise with fellow members and enjoy some refreshments
Further information will follow, so that you can book your ticket. We really look forward to seeing you there.
Update on the recently advertised home at Fishponds Road
In May we contacted you to let you know that one of our one bed rental homes was due to become available. However, the outgoing tenant’s new home has been delayed, so they are staying on until it is ready for them.
We received over 300 applications for the home, however, were surprised to have only one application from a BCLT member. The home will be re-advertised again in the coming months, and it is important to BCLT that a new resident is a BCLT member, and that they are keen to become part of an intentional community. If you are interested in the home, please keep your eyes peeled for an email from us – we will let you know before it is advertised via Bristol City Council’s HomeChoice.
In order to be eligible:
- Your housing need must be for a 1 bedroom home. This means that you should be either a couple, or a single person. The property is not suitable for a parent and child.
- You must be registered on HomeChoice, and your account must be live. This means that you must be regularly bidding on properties – for more information visit: HomeChoice
For more information you can visit our newest webpage:
Becoming a BCLT resident.
We’d kindly ask that you don’t email us for further information, as soon as there is more, you will be the first to know.
What's happening at Shaldon Road
With approximately 6 months to go until the whole scheme is fully completed the architectural drawings, which we’ve been used to looking at for over 5 years, have now really come to life as the build phase of the scheme moves into the final stages. The exteriors of the homes are decorated with the colour palette chosen by the residents, and it looks just amazing.
The site was broken down into 5 phases of construction – one for each block of terraces, starting at the top of the sloping site, and working down. The blockwork is now completed, and roofs are on, for 4 out of 5 of the terraces.
- Residents of the first phase have completed their training and the homes have been handed over to them to undertake the self-finish element, with Ecomotive, who have shared an update below.
- The next block is following closely behind, with air testing being undertaken to ensure the homes meet Passivhaus standards, and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) inspections being undertaken to certify that the homes have been constructed to a satisfactory standard.
- The second fix for all joinery and mechanical and electrical works is underway in the 3rd block, while the internal render, and external cladding and render is the task in hand for the 4th block.
- The 5th block is coming out of the ground fast, the United Living team are currently up to the second floor, with the blockwork growing daily.
Update from Jackson Moulding, Director - Ecomotive
The self-finish of the 50-home affordable housing project has now started. The residents-to-be have been eager to get onsite and start working on their homes. The project is innovative in the way that the residents are being trained up to complete many of the finishing works. Ecomotive Ltd, a partner with Bristol CLT on driving the community led housing agenda, is delivering the self-finish programme. The residents will be receiving 'sweat equity' in return for their contribution. This sweat equity is a term that values the effort put in by the resident, which will go to reducing rent costs or adding equity value to those with shared ownership homes. So not only do the residents get to choose their internal finishes, they get to participate manually in the project, AND they get that value accrued to their homes.
The residents have embraced the training with full gusto, getting up to speed on site safety, as well as use of tools. The group have split into teams with dedicated crews on decorating, carpentry, tiling and kitchen fitting, and honed their skills with activity specific training and practice. The residents will work with the Ecomotive team across 5 phases of the project, with residents moving in, as each phase completes. They also get to build the bin stores, bike stores, and the green landscaping, including laying turf, plants and trees.
This is truly an exciting housing project, where the residents are getting to know each other before they move in.
Volunteering opportunities within the BCLT:
BCLT Board Members - Call for New Trustees
We have two vacancies on the board of BCLT and, before we open up the field more widely, we wanted to invite members to express an interest. Our Board is ultimately responsible for ensuring that BCLT meets its objectives and complies with all relevant regulations. Although day-to-day responsibility for running the organisation is delegated to our small staff team, the board make the key decisions relating to governance, finance and future development.
No board experience is necessary, but a passion for and commitment to community-led housing is essential. We are particularly interested in people with skills and experience in:
· Social enterprise / business development
· PR and communications
· Housing and Tenancy Management
· Finance
Board meetings are quarterly (and currently virtual), with regular meetings of sub-committees in between. Board members will be expected to join one or more sub-committees or working groups dealing with finance, project development, risk or membership development. As we are such a small organisation, we also need our Trustees to pitch in occasionally and help with projects or events.
PR & comms volunteers – BCLT and Community Led Homes West
We are a very busy, part-time team who divide our time between BCLT and Community Led Homes West. We find that marketing and communications often falls off the to-do list which, given that there are so many amazing stories to tell about our sector, is a wasted opportunity. We are looking for one or more people to help us to plan and create content for social media and the web (including this newsletter). The role/s may include some, or all, of the following:
· Researching stories for the newsletter, web and social media
· Posting on social media
· Writing or coordinating blogs
· Taking photos or making videos
This is a flexible role which can be adapted to suit any willing volunteers, but experience of some of the above tasks will be essential.
