More support for Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation to bring forward community-led housing

Eastern Community Homes (ECH) began working with Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation (LGCHF) in June 2022 to undertake a piece of commissioned work looking at the options for community-led housing (CLH) for a new masterplan set to develop 900 homes on land identified as LG1. It is part of the North Herts District Council Local Plan, adopted in November 2022. The LG1 masterplan clearly states that development at Letchworth should comply with the Garden City’s principles and provides a strong platform for including the community and community-led housing in any schemes coming forward.

As part of the commissioned work, ECH conducted discussions with key stakeholders to understand initial support for CLH, looked at possible early-stage options in terms of planning and the masterplan requirements for affordable housing and self-build. LGCHF was also provided with an overview of the types of community-led housing schemes that could be considered. The end report included details of possible legal structures and potential sources of funding, together with relevant case studies linked to the LGCHF ‘Innovation Street’ concept.

The final report was presented to the LGCHF Development Committee in July 2023 and discussion followed around how to bring forward community-led support and the next steps for enabling local people to explore further the possibilities for the development of CLH for themselves.

As a result, LGCHF have commissioned ECH to undertake a second phase of work where ECH will work alongside LGCHF to deliver public consultation, awareness-raising, a CLH-enabling workshop and a study tour for LGCHF’s Development Committee. Through this work we aim to enable key stakeholders and interested Letchworth residents to gain a deeper understanding of the different CLH options and the community governance required to successfully bring forward CLH development.

We are excited to get started and work should be completed by Christmas.