By Barry Malki, Head of Communities, HACT

Two years ago, at the end of the empty homes community grants programme, we brokered a number of discussions about community-led housing with some of the leading proponents in the sector. One issue that cropped up repeatedly was the need for one central resource hub. 

People told us that agencies were reinventing the wheel each time a community-led housing project started. As a consequence, some of the projects never materialised. 

So we stepped in. 

Using our knowledge of the specialist community-led housing sector, and our range of contacts, we’ve successfully compiled the first online toolkit about community-led housing. Its aimed at local authority and housing association professionals who want to support local initiatives, but aren’t quite sure where to start. 

You can find it here: www.clhtoolkit.org 

Of course the toolkit couldn’t have been possible without funding: so thank you to the Nationwide Foundation, as well as LandAid and the Ecology Building Society, for all their financial help in making the toolkit happen. 

At the same time, it couldn’t have been created without the input of Pete Duncan (the lead author) and Simon Underwood from Social Regeneration Consultants, as well as Jon Fitzmaurice from Self Help Housing. Thanks also to Anthony Collins Solicitors, who are hugely experienced in providing legal advice to community-led housing projects, and provided content about the legal requirements of community-led housing. 

After six months of research, content development, iterations and web development, the toolkit is now ready to launch. Built by Agile Collective, the site has over 200 pages, and is a comprehensive resource, with huge amounts of information about community-led housing, as well as signposts to external online points of reference as well. 

Each page has a selection of real-life examples of successful schemes, as well as templates and sample documents. Thanks to the funding, we’re able to keep updating the site with new information for the next four years, so that it becomes a living resource for the community-led housing sector. 

The toolkit is free. You don’t have to sign up to get the content. You don’t need to remember your username or password. 

All we ask is that you share the site with as many people as possible, so that the toolkit can help more community-led housing projects see the light of day. 

For further information, please contact: clhtoolkit@hact.org.uk