AT chats to Sanya Polescuk, principal at Sanya Polescuk Architects and co-founder of NW3 CLT, about the challenges and benefits of setting up a community land trust.

You co-founded the NW3 Community Land Trust eight years ago. What are its main aims and how is the organisation structured
NW3 CLT is a community benefit society with 180 members, 20 of whom actively partake in the work. We operate through five sub-committees and a board of directors, and were formed to stop the exodus of people who could no longer afford to live in NW3, Camden, north London, due to increasing housing costs. Unlike council- and housing association-owned affordable stock, we wanted housing that could never be sold at profit. The community land trust model ensures that properties owned by the trust are subject to a covenant and remain affordable in perpetuity.

We spent the first two years campaigning locally, using in-house feasibility studies to highlight how local, publicly-owned, and underutilised sites could be developed for housing. Our not-for-profit model is based on cross-subsidising affordable housing by market-sales. It won us funding from the community-led housing hub (CLH Hub) and enabled the preparation of a business plan showcasing a council-owned site. We presented it to Camden Council, who, nine months later, endorsed us as delivery partners.

Four shortlisted practices were interviewed for the NW3 CLT scheme in Camden (pictured) with Mole Architects being declared the winner (image courtesy of  Mole Architects) 

Congratulations on obtaining planning permission for NW3 CLT after six years of hard work and dedication! Why did the project take so long to get over the line and what were the main challenges?
The project has a lot of moving parts, including a complex, steeply sloping site located in a conservation area with TPO trees and a TFL tunnel beneath, as well as numerous consultants appointed by the board after rounds of competitive tendering; and extensive council procedures. Once officers from the planning, housing and/or finance departments are convinced of the project, they submit reports on our proposal to the councillors for endorsement. We attended council meetings and incorporated their conclusions into design and viability plans.

There was also the issue of project funding and development funding. The former comes from CLH Hub and Greater London Authority, which require regular bidding involving extensive reports and forecasts. For the latter, design stages were costed and affordability tested against estimated values to allow discussions with banks, social impact, public and community funders.

Last but not least there is the issue of neighbourhood engagement. Housing development is often contentious, so we undertook consultations and gatherings with local people. Once the scaffolded ruin that previously occupied the site came down, we, with the council’s assistance, had a local artist design and install locally-specific site hoardings.

Artist-designed site hoarding

Can you tell me more about the NW3 CLT scheme?
Of the 14 flats, there are six for market sale, six CLT units for discounted sale, and two for social rent. The CLT discount is 50 per cent and should remain as such. It is a hybrid construction comprising a timber and concrete frame with brick slips and precast concrete panels, perforated metal and tiles. The scheme exceeds Camden’s carbon reduction targets with high energy-efficiency, air source heat pumps, solar panels, and external blinds preventing overheating. Project completion is set for late 2026.

What lessons have you learnt since setting up the trust?
Everyone is sympathetic to the need for more affordable housing, but little is embedded in existing frameworks to make it possible. New models of delivery, such as ours, are especially difficult to process as typically risk-averse local authorities and funders have little or no experience with such schemes. Yet, there seems to be no shortage of voluntary community participation in self-help-development schemes. It is easy to imagine how much more could be achieved through the combination of public funding and reworking of housing delivery frameworks. The latest National Planning Policy Framework finally included community-led housing, and the Budget announced £20m stimulus for it, but this is too little.

What’s next for the NW3 Community Land Trust?
We are more than two years away from completion, so this is definitely our priority. We relied entirely on voluntary work over the past eight years, but are ready to recruit the first paid help to assist us with project 1’s delivery. We have started site searches for project 2 and are connecting with other London-based CLTs, sharing and learning from experiences.