Holy Island - first CLT to receive Social Housing Grant
At the end of April Holy Island of Lindisfarne Community Development Trust in Northumberland became the first CLT to be awarded Social Housing Grant. Thanks to the work of David Brettell from the Development Trust Association, the normally weighty grant application process was modified to be more accessible to a community organisation. It is hoped that this will lead to a new process tuned to the scale of community organisations, perhaps informed by the Community Land Fund in Scotland. David has produced an overview of the current process from the point of view of communities.
HIT has already developed 7 affordable homes with all but one of the tenants working on the island. The trust charges very low rents which still generate a surplus / maintenance fund. The current development comprises four further homes funded through a combination of £250k bank loan, £200k grant from the Tudor Trust, and £200k from the Homes and Communities Agency.
