At the moment, community owned land can be lost through ‘leasehold enfranchisement’. Leaseholders who own a share of their home on land owned and provided by a CLT have the right, under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, to buy the freehold of the land. If this happens, the land ceases to be an asset owned by the CLT and the homes on it move into the open house market and lost forever for the community the CLT has been set up to serve.  

The Campaign seeks an amendment in the Localism Bill that, subject to regulation and where a CLT wishes to apply the exemption, exempts the homes built on the land owned by a CLT from leasehold enfranchisement. 

Catherine Harrington, National CLT Network, states “Land acquired for community housing by a CLT must be guaranteed to stay in the hands of the community to help those in housing need. Community assets should not be lost to private profiteering, which is what the law allows, but saved for the benefit of future generations. The Localism Bill presents a golden opportunity to prevent such abuses.”

At present, only homes built in a small number of rural areas that have Protected Area status, where homes are deemed hard to replace, are exempt from these enfranchisement rights.  The Localism Bill does give communities using the Community Right to Build the exemption from leasehold enfranchisement rights and this is welcomed by CDS Co-operatives and the National CLT Network. But, they argue, communities working with a willing land-owner and a willing planning authority ought not to have to go through the CRTB process simply to protect community owned land from being lost through leasehold enfranchisement. 

David Rodgers, executive director of CDS Co-operatives, said: “It would be a simple matter for the government to amend the Localism Bill to extend, subject to regulations, exemption from leasehold enfranchisement rights to all community owned land where the CLT or Local Housing Trust meets the definition of a CLT in section 79 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008”.  

“We invite CLTs from across the country to support the campaign and take action by writing to the Housing Minister Grant Shapps”.  A template letter to Grant Shapps MP, and information on how to Tweet your support, is available on the National CLT Network website.