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Everything you need to transform where you live
The housing market is failing to meet the needs of our communities, especially in terms of affordability and the types of housing. The good news is people across the country are taking matters into their own hands - and you could too.
What does the community-led housing process look like?
Every project is unique. Some people want to deliver affordable homes for their local area, others are looking to live with like-minded people in a more sustainable way. Some projects are all about bringing empty homes or commercial properties back into use. Whatever the purpose, there are usually five main stages to every community led housing scheme.
- Group Stage - Forming a steering group, deciding your purpose and developing a business plan
- Site Stage - Drawing up a brief, investigating locations and securing a site
- Plan Stage - Designing your scheme and obtaining planning permission
- Build Stage - Building homes from scratch or renovating existing ones
- Live Stage - Managing and maintaining homes once people have moved in
For more details on what’s involved with getting a typical project off the ground, we recommend heading over to the official Community Led Homes website.
What kind of support can I expect from Kent Community Housing?
Setting up your own housing group
We’ll help you establish your group and figure out what kind of community led housing you’d like to develop. We provide services to help guide you through every step right through to project managing the build itself.
Technical advice
We’re on hand to provide technical advice for groups through our associates of experienced and qualified Technical Advisors. We can do this through one of our enabling programmes - working closely with your group throughout the entire process - or on a consultancy basis for specific parts of your project you need help with.
Raising awareness
It’s important for us to build awareness and support for community led housing across Kent. We partner with community groups, local authorities, housing associations and developers to make sure your housing schemes have the best chance of success.
Training and networking
We’d like everyone involved with a project to feel as informed and equipped as possible, so we offer skills training across key areas. We also hold regular networking events for groups to get together, share insights and learn from each other. To be kept up to date, please subscribe to the website.
How do I get started with my own community led housing scheme?
If you’d like to find out more about using our services, please tell us more about your group by completing the health check form below. You may be at the very start of your project, so don’t worry if you can’t complete it all - just fill out what you can and we’ll be in touch.