CLT H-Buurt

The neighbourhood decides with the
Community Land Trust H-Buurt

The founding of the CLT
For Afro-Americans, the end of the ‘60’s in the U.S.A marked a time of continuous unfair challenges, on economic, social and political levels. When, in 1969, a group of black farmers in Georgia lost their job and house because they had registered themselves to vote, they started to look for ways to organize land, work and living in a collective way. Inspired by movements from India (Gramdan Village Movement) and England (Garden City Movement) grew a CLT. 2300 acres of land were accommodated in a cooperative non-profit organisation offering a form of protection for both the land itself and the community using it. This was the start of a movement which, until today, counts a large 200 CLT’s in the U.S.A. A movement keeping focus on the protection of land against speculation and the guarantee of affordable houses on the long run, through the management of local communities. By now, in the UK there are more than 500 CLT’s and the concept is beginning to spread across the rest of Europe.

The moment the West-Africa oriented church community MCTC heard they had to make way for a new area development including 500 houses, was the moment the CLT-seed landed in here on Bijlmer grounds. Pastor Moses Alagbe delved into the concept and went on to figure out, together with social innovation bureau And The People, how to maintain a piece of the today’s neighbourhood and its social structure within the new developments. Ever since, it has been a long hard road to convince involved stakeholders that a CLT serves as a buoy for the original neighbourhood in a new, oppressive area development, as well as a way to keep control over gentrification.

The community behind CLT H-buurt is something I had never experienced before in The Netherlands. The manner in which everybody makes each other feel at home and commits to the neighbourhood from the bottom of the heart: it blew me away.

How does a CLT work?
A Community Land Trust is a democratic, non-profit organisation with the goal to realize affordable, community houses and related functions and manage them in a sustainable way for both today’s and future generations. It aims to withdraw land from the speculative housing market, so that the community can fill in the infrastructure on the land in a democratic and affordable way. The organisation is being directed by three equal voices: the users of the land (the inhabitants), the surrounding communities (the neighbourhood association) and the broader public importance (this can be, for example, the municipality, the housing corporation or the CLT-expert/network organisation).

The multiple symbiotic value
I myself got involved in the project somewhere halfway along its course and I found that rather difficult beforehand. The concept is in such a way complex that I had not quite been able to make it my own. I had to add something to a community that had been working on it for years. What, then, would be my role? But after the first day, all doubts had vanished in the air. Namely, I did not start a project, I was included into a community. The community behind CLT H-buurt is something I had never experienced before in The Netherlands. The manner in which everybody makes each other feel at home and commits to the neighbourhood from the bottom of the heart: it blew me away.
This method of working together and looking after each other is what makes this neighbourhood strong. Removing this club house would make for a giant dent in the social fabric of this living quarter.
It is, therefore, painful to see how the mindsets of officials and other involved stakeholders are diametrically opposed to the human ways of thinking I have experienced in the H-buurt. High above, the initiative is largely supported from various municipal departments, but on ground level, it all appears to be too difficult to execute, too inconsistent with the usual course of action. The multiple symbiotic value that is being created here is not recognized by a system based on individuality. That is why it is discarded and makes way for things that add no value whatsoever to the neighbourhood: think about medium-priced houses or expensive company spaces keeping the development costs in check. A sore cognizance, which motives us to persist in the fight and cherish the small victories. That way, we can finally show how a CLT can be an example for the integration and strengthening of the original district in new area developments.

How are we doing now?
Momentarily, we see two possible routes to organize houses within the area development of H-midden: registering as a housing cooperative on a living coop-plot and/or a forming a consortium with a developer and registering on a larger part of the development. Originally, there would come a plot for a housing cooperative, for which everybody could sign up and on which granting is not guaranteed. But lags in the development process caused a delay and as for now it is unclear whether this route will remain one to take eventually. The vision has been set out already, the registering of the housing cooperative is now being finished and the allocation process of the houses -democratically guided by the neighbourhood association- is on the roll as well. Also, a bidbook has been created as to propose development parties to realise houses and/or social cooperatives together with us. Common City Development guides the whole trajectory of enrolment, the design and the creation of the houses. Today, houses, and particularly housing cooperatives with a large share in lower income rents, are extremely difficult to finance. With the help of various banks, impact investors, funds and the European CLT-network, we are trying to puzzle together an attainable financial model to realise houses. We would like to reserve space in the CLT for the neighbourhood activities of MCTC, a community centre, kitchen and/or a social cooperative. Regulations, however, form an obstruction for this kind of combined use. That is why we are looking for other spaces in H-Midden and at the flex-houses to house these initiatives. Yet, it is hard competing against the rents commercial parties can pay, and neither through the municipality have we found ways to reserve space for societal purposes.    

The future of the CLT
Meanwhile, we are no longer alone in our fight: there are at least six other initiatives trying to set up a CLT, all of them connected through a national network. For example, the development parties around de Ceuvel in Noord are looking at CLT to give current users and local residents a role. Elsewhere, in Terschelling, CLT is used in an effort to realise affordable houses for the youth. In Dordrecht, empty buildings will hopefully soon be inhabited by people unable to find a house, again through a CLT. Also in Sittard-Geleen and Zwolle, CLT is playing a role in the large development projects. There is a lot of resistance, but the movement grows stronger. With Community Land Trusts, we foresee a future for affordable living, in harmony with the neighbourhood, the natural environment and future generations.