What can one of the UK’s biggest landowners do to put its resources where its mouth is? Elizabeth Hopkirk reports
Some of the biggest barriers to the Church of England using more of its land for genuinely affordable housing could be overcome before the end of this year, the chair of the C of E’s housing commission predicts. Thousands of high-quality homes could be developed as a result, says Charlie Arbuthnot, a specialist in social housing financing who led the archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community whose report, Coming Home, was launched last month.
Individual churches and members of their congregations are engaged in small-scale housing schemes across the country, often for vulnerable communities. But, collectively, the Church of England owns almost 200,000 acres of land in England, more than the Duke of Westminster. What is stopping it putting bricks and mortar where its mouth is?
20/02/2021 The Head of Planning for the Duchy of Cornwall is to help take forward the Church of England’s work to tackle the housing crisis, it was announced today.
Nick Pollock has been seconded to a three-strong executive team reporting to the Church of England’s Lead Bishop for Housing, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, working to help the Church of England meet housing need in local communities.
He will join Canon Chris Beales, a member of the Archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community, who has been working with the Diocese of Gloucester; and Benjamin Preece Smith, Diocesan Secretary of the Diocese of Gloucester.
The Church of England should examine how its 6,000 acres of “strategic land” could be used to deliver more affordable housing, a new report has recommended.
The Commission of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on Housing, Church and Community has spent nearly two years researching the “housing crisis” in England.
Its new “Coming Home” report, released on Sunday, warned that around eight million people of all ages live in “overcrowded, unaffordable, or unsuitable homes”, while those in poverty “bear the brunt of this injustice”.
It added: “The scale and consequences of the housing crisis have been further exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is a national scandal.”
20/02/2021 The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have released a landmark new report, Coming Home , which sets out a bold new vision for housing and community
The Church of England should lead by example, including delivering more truly affordable homes on its own land, to help solve the housing crisis, says a landmark report published today by the Archbishops’ Commission on Housing, Church and Community.
A collective effort at all levels of society including Government, local authorities, landowners and property developers as well as the Church is needed to help tackle an acute shortage of truly affordable homes, the report
Coming Home, says.