Bristol’s City Council’s Gypsy Sites Proposals & Community Land Trusts

Ian Holding

• continuous and ongoing dialogue with the Gypsy & Traveller community in respect of a range of public services.

• building trust and sound relationship with the community over many years.

• Time and time again we are informed that the community also want to be able to find land that they can afford and be supported to gain planning permission and to have control themselves over their own homes.

Equality of Opportunity

• no avenue for Gypsies and Travellers to move out of the rented sector for culturally appropriate accommodation - i.e. Gypsy caravan site pitches

• unless 100% of the capital for outright land purchase and construction costs.

• no developers offering newly built pitches in the private sector

• Diversity of Tenure» Council / Social Landlord Rented» Private Landlord Rented» Owner Occupation

• Diversity of Type of Site

Residential sitesWorking sites

2009 PROPOSAL

• Bristol City Council bid to help Gypsies and Travellers in the Bristol area to get onto the accommodation ladder

• in much the same way as initiatives such as the Right to Buy/Acquire and Shared Ownership schemes currently available to those in conventional housing.

Owner OccupiedSite Options

A)• Bare land Pitches• land only purchased• All construction

provided by self

B)• land purchase Plus• either part

infrastructure –Electric/ drains etc

and or • finance available for

materials, • owner occupiers to

provide labour

C)• pitches pre built in a

park home style

• Rent to Buy staircase to ownership or part ownership Options

50% rent50% buy

Not for Profit Land Organisation

• All Land would have a restrictive covenant-Gypsy Site use only and be leasehold for max 25-30 years / until paid off

• A shared profit scheme for any plots sold similar to Right to Buy council housing resale. Resident profit increases in time and with repayment of finance.

• Lack of private Gypsy caravan site pitches that Gypsies and Travellers could buy

• lack of market mechanism to encourage this.

• result of this is that Gypsies and Travellers do not have the same equality of opportunity as other citizens,

• to purchase their own home through shared equity schemes or have a right to buy their local authority pitch.

Community Land Trusts

• not-for-profit organisations that owns land and property on trust for the benefit of the community.

Community Land Trusts• have potential to deliver a model for

self-management of existing local authority sites

• experience and confidence needs to be gained,

• thus offering local authority sites a means of tenant self-management, reducing costs and increasing community participation.

• of a local recyclable capital fund administered by a community trust

• finance the development costs of sites / pitches

Land & Property Value

Existing Sites

+Future Rent income

• CLT Loans to Travellers could start at 1.5% above base rate –

• Interest rates stepped across the life of the loan to encourage repayment within a reasonable period,

• no more than 15 years.

• Loan repayments will regenerate the fund for the future provision of additional pitches.

• Defaulters would ultimately lose their lease and the land would be re-let, thereby protecting both the capital fund and the land.

• Leases for will be for a period of 25-30 years.

• Lease of land +Loan for development costs

• 25-30 year leasehold for land• Loan of up to £15,000 for design,

connection to utilities and hardstanding.• Residents self-build

Thank you for Listening

• Any Questions

• Ian.holding@bristol.gov.uk• 0117 922 3367