Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
StART - helping the community take charge of the St Ann's Development!
Two-thirds of St Ann's Hospital site is due to be sold for private housing development. With only 14% of homes classed as 'affordable', current proposals take no account of the needs of local people. The community land trust 'StART' (St Ann's Redevelopment Trust) believes that it can do better. We have launched a crowdfunder, and we want you to get involved! Momentum is building; we were recently profiled in The Guardian.
StART's vision is simple: we want to ensure that the St Ann's site is used to benefit the whole community. Our plans are based on community consultation, seeking a far higher level of truly affordable, high quality housing and aiming to promote its fantastic green space. We also seek a development that is sensitive to local residents' health needs.
We have instructed architects to prepare initial plans. We now need to raise £25k to pay for the finished plans to be drawn up. These plans will allow StART to cost the project and put together a bid for the site. To make this happen, StART is fundraising now! Please click here to donate!
As it's a crowdfunder, donations will only be drawn from accounts once the full target has been reached. If you'd prefer, you can also support StART by becoming a member, or simply spreading the word! You can email StART at info@startharingey.co.uk.
Let's do it!
Tags for Forum Posts: housing, land trust, st ann's redevelopment, st anns
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Geoff Amabilino on
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Thanks Hugh! Top man!
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Permalink Reply by Liza on
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As someone who both lives very locally and works at St Ann's, I think this is a socially innovative, bold project which as well as providing more housing and affordable housing, could potentially transform the site at St. Ann's, boosting morale and wellbeing for both workforce and patients.
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Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on
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It's an interesting theory but I'm just wondering if I've understood it correctly.
The suggestion is that the properties remain affordable in perpetuity and this would partly be done by StART holding the resale value down when they are sold in the future.
Doesn't this have the danger of people being stranded in these properties as their increase in value won't keep up with the rest of London. Have I understood this correctly?
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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As I understand it, that's correct. In skirting the downside of the property market people would have to forgo some of the upside. Fair trade-off, particularly if you've no option. I guess the aim is to build homes, not to create investment portfolios.
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That's right Hugh. StART wants to change the way we think about housing. There is a growing appetite for this, looking to Europe where community housing is much more widespread and in some cases the norm. The market-based housing model in the UK simply isn't working for the vast majority.
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I'm not surprised to read that I'm wrong. Can you explain what will happen.
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You're not wrong, it is about building homes, not investments. The intention is to keep any resale at affordable levels, although no final decisions have been made yet about these issues. The great thing about Community Land Trusts is that the community is consulted at every stage.
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My point is less about investments, more about how it will interact with the housing market in general.
As an example, properties in London have increased in value by 80% or so in the past 6 years (very rough figures).
If you're planning to stay in London then, to an extent, this increase is irrelevant. As you progress up the housing ladder you sell one property for an increased price and buy another (usually bigger) property for an increased price.
My concern would be that if the StART properties don't stay in line with this then you'd never be able to afford to move out. The rest of London would increase in price but the value of the StART property is depressed.
Is there a mechanism whereby this will be addressed? Is the intention that the properties will be homes for life?
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I think that the increase in value in line with the housing market is what any owners would forgo.
As renters, people forgo 100% of any amount they pay over for housing. In contrast, as owners in the Trust, people would be given a substantial amount of monies they pay over for housing on the sale of their property. They would be required to forgo the amount of any interest payable on their mortgage as well as the higher level of investment returns normally offered by the property market, along with any other normal costs of property ownership. A deal with the devil maybe, but the devil would not be one of the housing trust's making.
If I were in the position of having to rent, possibly substandard accommdation for life, or alternatively of forgoing investment returns and getting a decent house, whilst I might mourn the loss of my investment returns, I know what choice I'd make.
There are already similar schemes that work very successfully, They include the flats in the Oxo Tower and the well known Coin Street development. I can't confirm whether the StArt model will follow the exact lines of these developments, but I do know that StArt have been talking to the folks behind them.
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That's right. There are more such projects emerging. If there is public support and political will (there is cross party support for CLTs) we can change the way housing works. I accept it won't be immediate, these things need time. But you have to start somewhere and there is precedent for these models working. Those of us who are older and secure in our home ownership need to listen to the younger generation who can't rely on parental wealth. Home ownership under the market system is out of reach for the vast majority. Private rental is insecure and rents are in general well over half of average income.
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