RUSS School of Community-led Housing, in partnership with the New Economics Foundation presents:

How to organise a community housing project

The course takes place across three evenings: Tuesday 9 January, Tuesday 16 January, and Tuesday 23 January 2018

Time: 6.30-9pm

Venue: New Economics Foundation, 10 Salamanca Place, London, SE1 7HB

Cost: £50 full price, £40 concessions (RUSS members, students, unwaged)

"A highly informative and inspiring community-led housingworkshop... I recommend it to everyone!"- Rowan Riley, previous participant.

Course fees will go towards RUSS's general fundraising campaign to build affordable housing in London. For information on RUSS see www.theruss.org.

RUSS is a registered charity and the course tutors and organisers are giving their time as volunteers, as RUSS is a volunteer-led organisation.

NEF are providing the space without a fee and will be offering a small number of free course places to housing activists and community organisers.

Introduction

Community-led housing is a way for local communities to address their housing needs by producing their own decent and affordable homes. It is increasingly seen as a viable alternative for those whose housing needs are not met by the mainstream housing market. But how can communities and individuals access community-led housing? How do you set up and maintain a group, find land, organise finance and negotiate with local authorities?

Over three evenings tutors and participants will discuss and work through exercises on key elements of community-led housing including:

• Creating a group - finding people who share your vision

• Organising - networking and building your membership

• Land - where to find it?

• Local authorities - how to work with them

• Procurement and competitive dialogue

• Finance - where is the money?

• Building a professional team

• Allocations - deciding who lives in the homes

• Co-design – designing your homes together

• Ongoing networking

This interactive workshop-style programme draws from the experience of the Rural Urban Synthesis Society (RUSS) - a Community Land Trust at the forefront of a community-led housing revolution in the UK. RUSS will share the lessons learned over the past 5 years developing its Church Grove Project in Lewisham, south London with aspiring individuals, community groups, students and housing practitioners.

RUSS has faced many challenges and has come up with creative and robust solutions to gaining access to land to build. RUSS is by no means perfect or finished, but has some valuable lessons that can be passed on to those starting out on a journey towards community housing.

The course is delivered by:

Kareem Dayes – RUSS Founder and Chair

Joe Beswick – Housing Lead, New Economics Foundation

Rebecca Winson – Organiser, New Economics Foundation

TBC - National CLT Network

Jon Broome - Architect and RUSS' Strategic Advisor

John Struthers – Headway Self Build Group Collective

Chris Carthy, Local Agenda – RUSS Project Manager

Zohra Chiheb - Levitt Bernstein

About RUSS

The Rural Urban Synthesis Society (RUSS) is a volunteer-led Community Land Trust based in south London, founded in 2009 with the aim of creating sustainable neighbourhoods and genuinely affordable homes. We have a busy calendar of events led by our 700+ members and an ambitious development plan. Our mission is to reduce our communities’ dependence on fossil fuels, increase food security, encourage bio-diversity and provide affordable housing for Londoners. Read more about RUSS here: Evening Standard (May 2016), The Guardian(January 2017) and Positive News (June 2016)

www.theruss.org

About the New Economics Foundation

The New Economics Foundation is the UK’s only people-powered think tank. The Foundation works to build a new economy where people really take control. We are rooted outside the traditional boundaries of politics. We care most about people’s everyday experience and we will work with communities of all kinds to help them take control.

www.neweconomics.org