Agenda item

The Chairman welcomed Harry Whitmore, Community Led Housing Co-coordinator with SOSCH who support community organisations to consider solutions to local housing issues and deliver community led housing projects.  It was explained that Community Led housing was delivered by and for local communities, rather than relying on traditional providers, it was a way for local people to produce place-based solutions to local problems through a process of participation and empowerment.  There were many types of community led housing, but in Scotland it typically took the form of housing developed and owned by a community organisation such as a Community Development Trust.  As a result of Scotland’s land reform legislation and the Community Development Trust model, there was a vibrant landscape of community-led housing.  The Scottish model allowed for not only housing, but for community trusts to own other assets like shops and renewable energy sources.  There were 612 assets in community ownership across Scotland in December 2020.  Mr Whitmore went onto to explain the benefits of community ownership and community led housing which included – sustaining communities, regenerating places in decline, a flexible approach to housing, providing affordable homes for local people and a reliable source of revenue for community organisations.

3.3     Mr Whitmore then went onto explain that SOSCH was a community-led housing enabler established in 2006 in order to address a shortfall in rural housing supply in South West Scotland.  SOSCH support community organisations to deliver affordable community-led housing within the context of community ownership of land and assets and Land Reform.  SOSCH had a long track record of project delivery across South West Scotland and were engaged with 35+ communities in southern Scotland.  They operated on a fee-based system which were included where possible in funding packages so communities were not paying out of their pockets.    SOSCH worked with community organisations at an early stage to set themselves up to deliver community led housing, either supporting a group to constitute itself properly, or direct them towards partners to help.  The two key requirements to setting up your voluntary or community organisation correctly were an open membership, and a defined geographical area, in order to use certain legal powers and access to certain funding.  By working with SOSCH, the capacity of your organisation was increased by reducing the burden on the organisation. The amount of involvement SOSCH had in the project varied depending on the confidence and ability of the group to deliver a project. SOSCH could increase a community’s capacity by helping them hire a member of staff, such as a development officer to manage the day to day delivery of the project, which could be included as part of the feasibility funding, and could be either short term, or long term. SOSCH could also help increase a community’s capacity to deliver community housing by working in partnership with other groups, such as housing associations, to deliver projects. This may be a good option for large-scale projects, where a community lacked confidence to deliver it themselves.

3.4     In terms of Finance and Funding, SOSCH used its partnership and experience to help communities’ access resources, putting together comprehensive and bespoke funding packages to deliver CLH projects.  The starting point of financing a project was with the Rural Housing Fund (RHF) and Scottish Land Fund (SFL) and early stage expressions of interest helped secure funding for feasibility work. Rural Housing Fund can then offer capital works funding, and the Scottish Land Fund can support the purchase of an asset.  The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) can be accessed when re-purposing existing buildings, especially within conservation areas or listed buildings and they can provide grants for feasibility work, and loans for capital words South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE). SOSE had previously helped finance community led projects, as well as several SOSCH projects, such as the Langholm Old Police Station. They had also supported Kirkhope Steadings, the first CLH project in the Borders. Other sources of funding were Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF); Borderlands Growth Deal; Ecological Building Society; Wind Farm Funds; Empty Homes Grant Scheme; SSE - Scottish Borders Sustainable Development Fund.

3.5     In terms of South East Scotland, Mr Whitmore explained that a ‘Community Led Housing Coordinator - South East Scotland’ had been recruited to expand the work of SOSCH from South West Scotland to South East Scotland, to replicate the SOSCH approach and successes.  SOSCH were very encouraged by existing community led development in the Borders and were keen help to accelerate this by raising awareness around community led housing and how it could fit into the wider community development agenda. The last three months had been spent building partnerships across the region to help support communities to deliver community led housing and work had already begun directly with communities with early discussions.

3.6     In terms of Cheviot, it was explained that there was a population of around 19,345.34% of the population who lived in settlements under 500 people.  Jedburgh (3774 in 2020) was the only settlement not eligible for the rural housing fund, despite Kelso (6833 in 2020) having a higher population. Existing community owned assets in Cheviot included: The Port House, Jedburgh; Laidlaw Memorial Pool, Jedburgh and Morebattle Village Shop and Post Office.  While vacant and long term empty homes were everywhere, Cheviot had a few key ‘hotspots’. These hotspots had a high number of both vacant and LTE properties and while data can help to identify housing need and areas with a particularly high number of vacant and long term empty properties, empty buildings anywhere can help address challenges that communities face. Most of all, SOSCH relied on local knowledge of empty, vacant and derelict properties to deliver CLH. 

3.7     SOSCH could help across the entire process of community led housing, but needed the local knowledge and ideas. Therefore, they were looking for information on;

·         Could your community benefit from Community Led Housing?

·         What is the housing need in your community?

·          Are you interested in any buildings or land to develop housing?

·         If you’ve identified a building or land:

• Who owns the building/land?

• How long has it been vacant?

• Is it currently on the market?

• Are you interested in other forms of community ownership and regeneration?

For more information on SOSCH South East Scotland project, please contact the Community Led Housing Coordinator for South East Scotland, Harry Whitmore. Email: harry.sosch@outlook.com. 

DECISION

NOTED.