Bridging the gap to resource communities to lead their own affordable housing development

2025-05-26

In this episode, host Zola Rose discusses what creates successful community-led housing (CLH) with guest Thomas Moore, a senior lecturer in Geography and Planning at the University of Liverpool. They explore the concept of Enabling Hubs, a practical form of advocacy infrastructure, and why these Hubs are so important for overcoming the challenges communities face in achieving affordable and sustainable housing for themselves. Tom explains how these hubs are funded and function and about the training programmes to build capability for community-led housing advocates. Tom shares his excitement at ...

In this episode, host Zola Rose discusses what creates successful community-led housing (CLH) with guest Thomas Moore, a senior lecturer in Geography and Planning at the University of Liverpool.

They explore the concept of Enabling Hubs, a practical form of advocacy infrastructure, and why these Hubs are so important for overcoming the challenges communities face in achieving affordable and sustainable housing for themselves. Tom explains how these hubs are funded and function and about the training programmes to build capability for community-led housing advocates.

Tom shares his excitement at discovering collective housing models, his insights from his research on Community Land Trusts, the importance of genuine community engagement (not just consultation) and how his planning students are learning from their communities what makes for great homes.

Both highlight the need for robust government support and community participation approaches to planning and development.

Zola makes a case for integrating environmental sustainability into affordable housing projects through frameworks like Permaculture Design.

01:15 Meet Our Guest: Thomas Moore

03:17 Understanding Community-Led Housing

07:26 Thomas Moore's Journey into Housing

14:27 Exploring Housing Models and Innovations

24:49 The Role of Enabling Hubs

35:50 Educational Initiatives and Student Engagement

42:51 Final Thoughts and Recommendations for Further Learning

Books

https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/creating-community-led-and-self-build-homes

https://uclpress.co.uk/book/postcapitalist-countrysides/

https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781789621082

Podcast

https://middlemarchclh.co.uk/podcasts/

Springhill co housing - https://www.springhillcohousing.com

Enabling hubs report - https://www.shu.ac.uk/centre-regional-economic-social-research/publications/homes-in-community-hands-year-three-evaluation-report

Accreditation training - https://www.cch.coop/clh-training-programme/

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