Stroud: Capturing Land Value for People and Communities
Stroud Common Wealth Ltd was founded as a land trust in 1999 to acquire property for community ownership and to enable social enterprise development. It has a particular focus on bringing empty properties back into use, and promoting them as venues for local community projects and social enterprise.
Their scheme of 32 homes was the first new-build cohousing development in the country. All households are directors and shareholders in The Cohousing Company, a private limited company. The company owns the common spaces, and each homeowner has a 999-year lease of their property. The ecologically designed homes are built to high standards, and homeowners, having taken risks to join as founders, have been able to obtain homes at less than market rates.
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