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Other news | 3 February 2021
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Tom heads up the CLT Network and leads on its strategy and its work to mainstream the community ownership of land and affordable housing. This includes public policy and advocacy work, and building relationships with industry bodies for housing associations, developers, landowners, local authorities and community networks.
Prior to joining the Network, he worked for the Greater London Authority in housing and planning policy, and as head of office for the Green Party Group on the London Assembly. He has also worked for a sustainable construction company, and as a consultant for clients such as the All Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and Planning, World Habitat and various local authorities.
Josie joined the CLT Network in April 2023 as the CLT Network’s Communications and Events Officer. She supports the CLT Network with their member communications, newsletters, and webinars.
Josie previously spent 4 years at ActionFunder as a campaigns manager, running corporate microgrants programmes for small nonprofits. She also managed the Backyard Nature campaign, where she worked closely with a consortium of social housing providers and a board of young residents to create the Green Manifesto for Housing.
She is constantly inspired by people coming together to take action for their communities.
Peg Alexander job shares the job of leading the National CLT Network’s campaigns and business development work. She is responsible for our advocacy and communications campaigns and the delivery of our consultancy work.
Peg comes to this role after over 25 years working at a senior level in the public and third sectors as a consultant, chief executive and time in a Government children’s agency developing policy, practice and support for all of England’s local authorities. She works as an associate for Leeds Community Homes.
Peg combines this work with another career as a TV/Radio broadcaster, journalist, event host and speaker. Indeed, it was through making a documentary about community led housing that she made her connections that led to this job.
Abbie joined the CLT Network in January 2024 as the CLT Network’s Membership and Data Officer. She works to improve the Network’s organisational systems including the team’s Salesforce system and the CLT sector database. Abbie also processes memberships and, alongside Josie Howard, our enquiry inbox and member webinars.
She previously worked at a Trussell Trust foodbank as the Data and Learning Lead, working with a small team to set priorities and objectives, using data to inform changes and measure impact.
Gemma leads on business development, partnerships, and innovation, focusing on the strategic growth and sustainability of the Network. She develops new services and opportunities to support a thriving community land trust movement.
Gemma joined the Network in early 2026, with experience in strategic leadership and income generation. Most recently, she was Director of Membership at the Association of Charitable Foundations. Gemma is a CIPR-qualified communicator and trained service designer. She currently serves as a Trustee for Windmill Hill City Farm in Bristol.
Rachel Chance joined the Network in September 2018 to manage the operations and finances. She has a background in management, social enterprise and third sector having previously been CEO of third sector digital firm, Fat Beehive and the Managing Director of the innovative recycling social enterprise The Laundry. Rachel also has a background in environmental consultancy and project management within the third sector.
Rachel has a BSc Hons in Psychology from the University of Sheffield. She has continued professional development in organisational psychology and change management.
Beth makes sure the Network’s advocacy, communications and market development campaigns are strategically delivered and achieve the best possible results. Beth also leads our membership services.
Beth joined the Network in June 2017 as our Communications Manager, having previously worked at a resident-led housing association.
I support CLTs because: “I believe community ownership of land and assets is the best way to create places where people love to live, work and spend their time. CLTs give ordinary people a say in what happens where they live and crucially can help to create the genuinely affordable, quality, homes that communities need”.
Claire has worked at Cwmpas, a co-operative development agency (formally known as the Wales Co-operative Centre) covering the whole of Wales since 2013, supporting the delivery of financial and digital inclusion projects as well as community shares. In 2019, Claire joined the Communities Creating Homes team where she has been supporting community groups to develop their own Community-led Housing, including CLTs, as an enabler and accredited advisor.
Claire has a background in programme monitoring and evaluation having worked in both the public and third sector including European funded business support programmes. Claire also volunteered as the Wales student representative for the Open University Students Association and sat as a student representative on the University’s Senate where she studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She also has a BA in Creative Writing and History from Bath Spa University and completed a MA in Journalism Studies at Cardiff University.
“I support CLTs because they are a way for people get involved in shaping delivery of new housing and other land-based projects. CLTs create and embed the relationships needed to make change, without it being a threat to existing communities.”
Hilary is a founder member of Arundel CLT in West Sussex. Before that she had a 40+ year career in social housing, local government, and worked for two central government agencies (the, then, Housing Corporation, and the Youth Justice Board). She worked in Manchester and the North West from 1976 to 2000, then in London and Kent until 2018.
Hilary was involved in setting up Housing Cooperative in the 1970s and a cohousing group in the 2010s. She has been instrumental in seeing through Arundel’s CLT’s first project into construction, ensuring a Local Lettings Policy and Section 106 Agreement shaped by the Town Council’s Neighbourhood Plan. As well as being Secretary of the CLT, Hilary is involved in other volunteering in Arundel, including the Neighbourhood Plan Review Steering Group and a Green Team set up to address the Climate Emergency at local level.
Hilary became a CLT Network Trustee in 2024 as a way of combining local activities with her longstanding interest in national housing policy. She has deep commitment to human beings, uniting under the causes of social justice and inhabiting the planet sustainably.
“I support CLTs because communities are excellent at delivering places that people like and value. By their very nature they know best what they need and want. Empowered community residents can be wise place-makers.”
Nicholas Boys Smith is the founder and chair of Create Streets, a visiting professor of architecture at the University of Strathclyde and a senior research fellow in urban design at the University of Buckingham. He writes on the design, planning and history of our towns and cities. Create Streets is an award-winning social enterprise which pioneers methods of research, master-planning, design coding and community co-design to help develop and steward beautiful and popular ‘gentle density’ places for the long term. Nicholas was co-chair of the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission and chair of the Office for Place. Between 2016 and 2022 he was a Commissioner of Historic England. Nicholas’s books include No Free Parking, Heart in the Right Street, Beyond Location and Of Streets and Squares. He writes for The Telegraph, The Critic, The Times and Unherd and has appeared on BBC, Times Radio and GB News. Nicholas was awarded an MBE in 2024 for services to planning and design and awarded an honorary fellowship of RIBA in 2026. Nicholas has a double first and an MPhil with distinction from the University of Cambridge.
I support CLTs because “at their best, they strengthen and empower local communities, creating genuinely affordable homes and social infrastructure, keeping local economies alive, fostering social justice and creating a deeper sense of belonging – all things many of our communities have struggled with in recent years”.
Pete has been involved in community-led housing for more than forty years. In addition to his role as a CLTN Trustee, he is also a Director of SCATA, a CLT in Stocksfield, Northumberland, which built seven award-winning affordable rented homes in 2015,a Director of Communities CAN, the Community Led Housing Hub for North East England, and has recently joined the management committee of his local Community Pub.
Pete trained as a Planner, but soon transitioned into community housing and urban regeneration. He has worked for local authorities and an earlier version of Homes England, set up and managed a secondary co-operative, chaired a CLT in his home village and has also lived in a cohousing scheme.
Pete is the author of various national publications on community led housing, neighbourhood management and urban regeneration. He ran his own consultancy business from 1990 until 2022 when he stopped taking on paid work.
In his spare time, Pete is a wildlife and landscape photographer, birdwatcher and a committed supporter of Arsenal Football Club.
Colin is passionate about delivering genuinely affordable housing and empowering communities to shape their built environment. He is the former Vice Chair of London Community Land Trust (London CLT), London’s first Community Land Trust, where he was part of the founding board instrumental in delivering the St Clements Affordable CLT Homes in Mile End.
His interest in Community Land Trusts spans more than a decade. Following a visit to the United States, where he was hosted by Champlain Housing Trust, the largest community land trust in the US, Colin developed a deeper understanding of the model and its potential to deliver affordable, community-led housing. The experience inspired his ongoing commitment to supporting the growth of CLTs across the UK.
In 2026, Colin attended the Canadian CLT Summit, further exploring how the CLT model can be adopted and developed within the co-operative housing sector. He is currently General Manager of Gida Housing Co-operative, a newly established housing co-operative set to deliver one of London’s largest community-led developments in Tottenham.
A highly experienced construction professional, Colin holds professional memberships with the Chartered Institute of Building as a Chartered Construction Manager, the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors as an Engineering Surveyor, and the Institution of Civil Engineers as an Incorporated Civil Engineer. In recognition of his contribution to British architecture, particularly through his work in affordable housing and the improvement of community spaces, he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
With more than 20 years’ experience, Colin has worked within teams delivering major construction projects and iconic developments across London, spanning commercial offices, healthcare, residential developments and stadia.
He is also a founding director of Genesis Projects Incorporated (GPI Ltd), a project management consultancy supporting local communities with land and property development. GPI specialises in community-led projects, affordable housing, heritage buildings and residential development, providing Colin with an opportunity to combine his professional expertise with his long-standing commitment to Community Land Trusts and community-led development.
“I support CLTs because I believe in social justice. True justice is not just about what we build- it’s about how we build and who gets to shape it.”
Nkechi has worked in local government since for over twenty year and is currently a Regeneration Programme Manager at a London Council, where she leads initiatives to support town centre revitalisation and local economic growth.
With a strong commitment to community-led development, Nkechi has successfully delivered impactful projects including place strategies, public realm enhancements, affordable workspace creation, and town centre activation. Passionate about designing vibrant, sustainable and inclusive places, Nkechi combines strategic vision with hands-on delivery to turn ambitious concepts into lasting, tangible change that responds directly to community needs. Nkechi also serves as the voluntary Chair of Brent Community Land Trust.
“I support CLTs because I believe in investing in communities to take ownership of local assets and shift power, control and responsibility to local people. I think this is a very important shift in relation to the environmental and economic crisis that face citizens and is a catalyst for reinstating hope and ownership to communities.”
Janet has over 30 years’ experience in health, working in NHS Trusts as a senior practitioner and manager and latterly as an independent consultant in learning disability health services, developing networks and conferences.
Janet moved to Shropshire from Lancashire in 2015 and took on the role of Parish Clerk in a tiny village.
Janet is particularly interested in the push for nature recovery across the UK and before joining the board of MMCLT was instrumental in establishing Restoring Shropshire’s Verges Project (RSVP) before joining the board of Middle Marches Community Land Trust and Marches Meadow Group.
In her role as a MMCLT board member she is actively involved in the implementation of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), working as a volunteer in support of the LNRS lead officer for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin with the local Town and Parish network.
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“I support CLTs because they provide affordable homes in perpetuity that are often greener”
Lorraine Hart has worked in and with the voluntary and social enterprise sector since 1983. She has helped set up community businesses like the Boundary Estate Community Launderette and Shared Assets and has been a Community Land Trust enabler in London and the Southeast. She is a qualified planner and has supported local people through the production of Neighbourhood Plans.
In previous jobs she has developed and refurbished property including housing, workspace and community facilities (including parks and playgrounds) with a focus on making them as green and biodiverse as possible. She has shared her experiences and skill as an author of guides on Community Asset development and management for Locality and Power to Change.
For fun she works an allotment and gets involved in political debates about the future of town planning and community ownership of land and buildings.