Hastings Commons Community Land Trust (CLT) is one of over 300 CLTs in England and Wales. While CLT numbers have grown significantly in the past decade, less than 5% have decided to become Registered Providers (RP) which is what Hastings Commons is currently applying for.

An RP is an organisation that is regulated to develop, own, manage affordable homes, and generally, they are housing associations or local authorities. The big benefit of becoming an RP, and the driver for our own decision, is being able to access capital grant funding through Homes England to build much-needed affordable homes.

Becoming an RP is hard work. It takes a long time – we started research back in 2020 and have been working on the process since 2022 – and it’s not cheap with the registration and support fees. The process is designed for the big housing associations with thousands of properties. It’s the main reason so few CLTs are becoming Registered Providers and choose to partner with RP housing associations instead, or take on housing built by developers via Section 106 planning agreements. 

But those options aren’t really available to us in Hastings where the established RPs show minimal interest in retrofit and town centre regeneration and where there’s a lack of large developments that could offer a proportion of CLT homes. In any case, we see the role as building more than housing units. Home is not just a bedroom/kitchen/bathroom – people need space for work, leisure, social life, and a sense of purpose and belonging. So, we decided to convert our long-standing housing company, Living Rents (Hastings) Ltd, into a Registered Provider. 

On the upper floors of the transforming Observer Building sit the makings of twelve beautiful new homes. Twelve new homes for people coming out of temporary housing or at risk of needing temporary housing. We have secured two-thirds of the funding to achieve this from Town Deal and Hastings Borough Council; the final one-third will be made possible by becoming an RP which opens the doors to the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme. 

We know that 24 homes (we already own and manage 12 flats within Hastings Commons) does not solve Hastings’ housing crisis, but they are seeds of hope. With the RP status we can get on with further projects, including supporting other community-led housing groups to achieve their own affordable housing ambitions. 

Community land trusts have built close to 2,000 homes across the country. Together we can build and renovate hundreds of homes in Hastings. Become a member of Hastings Commons Community Land Trust and help make it happen!

Beth Boorman is one of five voluntary directors of Living Rents.