Grassroots innovations in community-led housing in England: the role and evolution of intermediaries

ABSTRACT

The paper aims to take forward recent research concerning the development of grassroots innovations and sustainability transitions in housing. We introduce and empirically assess a multi-level, process-oriented framework informed by strategic niche management (SNM) and social capital theory. Drawing on qualitative data, the empirical part explores the emergence of community-led housing (CLH) in England as a grassroots-based housing niche which operates in a context of market dysfunction. The paper offers further conceptual development of the role of intermediaries in grassroots niche building. Our findings suggest an evolution from independent sub-niche umbrellas to broader-based intermediaries to leverage and consolidate different sustainability practices in the niche. The results question an unadapted application of the simplistic growth-oriented SNM approach advocating for strategic coherence. In particular, our analysis shows that the development of broader-based intermediary organisations is driven by short-term government funding and carefully preserves the diversity of approaches and identities within the niche.

KEYWORDS:

• Community-led housing
• sustainability transitions
• grassroots innovations
• niche development
• social capital
• intermediaries
• cooperative housing
• multi-level perspective
• strategic niche management

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to participants in the community-led housing field in England who engaged in various ways with this study and shared their insights and experiences with us. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The involvement of one author in the development of a regional enabler hub and as a trustee of UK Cohousing Trust after the main fieldwork period is declared.

Notes

1. The paper focuses only on England rather than the UK as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different legislative contexts for housing.

2. A 2011 YouGov poll commissioned by the Building Societies Association suggested that one in two people would consider building their own home if they felt that they could (DCLG 2011b).

3. See http://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/article/2016/12/23/government-unveils-60-million-annual-community-housing-fund [accessed 14 November 2018].

4. See Heywood (2016) and Cadywould and O’Leary (2015).

5. See http://www.councils.coop/case-studies/launch-of-the-ccin-housing-commission/ [accessed 14 November 2018].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the FP7 People: Marie-Curie Actions [Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship, Grant Number 622728]; Austrian Academy of Sciences [APART-fellowship, Grant Number 11696]; Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration [Grant 2017-9, ‘Community Led Housing and Empty Homes’].

Notes on contributors

Richard Lang

Richard Lang is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Innovation Management at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. He is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the School of Social Policy at University of Birmingham, UK, where he previously held a Marie Curie Fellowship. Richard holds a Ph.D. from WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.

Paul Chatterton

Paul Chatterton is a writer, researcher and campaigner. He is Professor of Urban Futures in the School of Geography. His recent books include Low Impact Living (Routledge) [http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415661614] and Unlocking Sustainable Cities (Pluto Press) [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unlocking-Sustainable-Cities-Manifesto-Geography/dp/0745337015].

David Mullins

David Mullins is a researcher and social change advocate. He is Emeritus Professor of Housing Policy at the University of Birmingham, a Trustee of UK Cohousing Trust, and a board member of Birmingham Community Homes, Accord Housing and Cluid Housing.