Community solutions to the housing crisis

Brighton and Hove is experiencing an acute housing crisis. High housing costs and low local earnings mean that the city is one of the least affordable places in Britain to buy or rent. Brighton has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country and significant numbers of households are living in emergency accommodation. It is urgent and vital that, as a community, we explore and support innovative ideas about how housing might be designed and organised in the future to better meet the needs of the city’s residents.

Partners

Lead community partner - Dot Kirk, Other partner - Researcher - , Ογ½ΆΦ±²₯

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Background

This project built a partnership between the university and a community partner to investigate ways to address the housing crisis. The Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust (BHCLT) was set up to support community-led housing in the city. The university’s  was established to support community-led responses to the housing crisis and foster collaborations between academics, community organisations and local policymakers.

The organisations had worked together on an ad-hoc basis and identified a set of mutual ambitions. The Ignite programme supported and formalised this fledging relationship, taking important steps to developing a sustainable community-university partnership.

Ignite laid the foundations for a long-term collaborative partnership which has not only brought about mutual benefits for the partners, but made a real and material difference in our city. Currently, the partners are waiting to hear about a significant bid that was made to a Research Council to support further work together.

Key activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts

  • In the run up to the local elections, the partners hosted a hustings that resulted in cross-party support for community housing.
  • Secured from the council two new sites for community housing and cross-party support to find a further eight.
  • Recruited an ESRC-funded PhD student to work on the history of cooperative housing in Brighton.
  • Held an international conference with academics working with community partners to address the housing crisis in their localities.
  • Set up an international network of academics working with their communities to address the housing crisis and sustain the project work.
  • Held a local event for communities on community-led housing in Brighton.
  • Developed a significant research funding bid to sustain the work of the project.