The report to the Mayor specifically looks at our proposals for Mutual Home Ownership set out in our research report ‘Common Ground – for mutual home ownership.

Geared towards people earning between £17,000 and £25,000 per annum, the Mutual Home Ownership model combines a community land trust, which holds the land outside the market in perpetuity for the provision of affordable housing, and a mutual home ownership trust which gives members an equity stake in the value of their home.

The report to the Mayor endorses the model, stating “this new mutual model has the 'in principle' support of the Mayor of London”.    The London Development Agency has commissioned a feasibility study, and at the instigation of Housing Minister, Keith Hill, we have been in discussion with English Partnerships about funding and support. English Partnerships has offered, in principle, to provide gap funding support.  At least two London Boroughs, Hackney and Croydon, are actively looking at potential sites for the pilot project.

 David Rodgers, our Executive Director, said: “We are delighted with this report to the Mayor of London.  Ken Livingstone has long championed co-operative housing in community development initiatives such as the Coin Street development on the South Bank.  Now we have taken the lessons from past projects in the UK and around the world, to develop a 21^st Century solution for affordable housing.”

 Rodgers added: “We are on the brink of an exciting new era for the provision of affordable housing. It is a question of when, not if, we will get building.”

 To download a copy of the report click here