Hope for Housing – the rebirth of Community-Led Housing

Birmingham and West Midlands Research Conference

Following the announcements of a Community Housing Fund in December 2016, and November 2017 we are anticipating an acceleration of activity in the community housing space, with new regional hubs already established in Leeds, Bristol, London and East Midlands (adding to existing umbrella organisations). There is great interest in enabling and influencing here in Birmingham and the West Midlands; with our rich heritage of co-operative and resident controlled housing and strong current interest in community-led housing.

Community-led housing has been a key research topic for Housing and Communities Research Group for a number of years, and David Mullins recently edited (with Dr Tom Moore) a Special Issue of the International Journal of Housing Policy, March 2018 on ‘self-organised and civil society participation in housing’ with academic analysis of developments in ten countries. This event also draws on research led by Dr Richard Lang’s recent Marie Curie Fellowship with Housing and Communities Research Group on ‘Co-operative capital’ and consults on findings from that research comparing collaborative housing developments in England and Austria. We have also undertaken high impact research on self-help housing before and after the Empty Homes Community Grants Programme, the Urban Community Land Trust programme, tenant involvement in social housing governance, resident management organisations in older people’s housing and community-led initiatives in the private rented sector.