Oxfordshire Community Land Trust: Creating homes that are affordable and empowering

When a group of concerned locals convened a meeting about the housing crisis in Oxford, the result was the creation of the Oxfordshire Community Land Trust (OCLT).

“Our mission is to find land and assets that can be used permanently and affordably for the community,” said OCLT secretary Fran Ryan. 

“Our land and houses cannot be sold for profit. We are committed to ensuring the houses we own are permanently affordable. The only way to solve the housing crisis is to have a decent sized number of permanently affordable homes, like they do in Vienna.” 

A community benefit society since 2014, in 2019 the OCLT became a registered housing provider and acquired land to build on.

In November 2022, with the property under construction, the OCLT team launched a community share offer to raise £500,000 to part finance the cost of the works. To help prepare their share offer, they were awarded a £10,000 development grant from the Community Shares Unit Booster Fund. 

“This was massively helpful because it enabled us to recruit experts to create our marketing and business plans – and to obtain the Community Shares Standard Mark, which is a guarantee of a high-quality share offer.”

In April 2023, the share offer closed, with OCLT raising £583,000 from 200 investors, which included £20,000 match funding from the Community Shares Booster Fund. “That was fantastic, as soon as we hit our target, we were immediately up another £20,000,” Fran said. 

“The good thing about the share offer was that we could get community involvement. It gave us a wider audience than we would have had otherwise – and helped us develop relationships with the local university and colleges. Trinity College Oxford was especially helpful.”

With building completed, the property – Crofts Court – was fully tenanted by August 2023. “We now have eight flats. Thirteen adults and three children live in those flats,” said Fran. “We’ve also been donated a house and that is rented out to a local family in housing need at local housing allowance rates.” 

The OCLT has supported the residents of Crofts Court to set up a co-op to enable them to manage it as much as they can, including cleaning of communal areas and the maintenance of the building and gardens – and to help build a community around where they live. 

“It’s to do with empowering people,” Fran said. “Most people aspire to owning their own home. Our tenants have assured tenancy so they can stay long term – and we’re empowering them to do as much as they can themselves and to treat the properties as if they were their own.

“Running a co-op and the activities this involves also helps them develop new skills and knowledge. And recent research from Bristol University shows that being involved in collaborative housing is beneficial all round. 

“We are working with Co-operatives UK to develop the co-op. We need more co-operative housing like this.”

Find out more 

• Oxfordshire Community Land Trust – Website | X | Facebook | Instagram