Beyond housing: on the role of commoning in the establishment of a Community Land Trust project

Abstract

Urban commons scholars increasingly present Community Land Trusts (CLTs) as a model to manage ‘housing commons’. The collective property framework and institutional design of CLTs offer an innovative yet strenuous approach to facilitate collective access to affordable housing and urban land for underprivileged groups. Although these scholars emphasise the indispensable role of collective action, i.e. ‘commoning’ in the establishment of urban CLTs and their projects, relatively little attention is paid to its implications and consequences for the groups involved. This paper studies the genesis of the first CLT project on the European mainland through the lens of ‘commoning’. It sheds light both on the role of collective action in the institutional design of Community Land Trust Brussels and on the participatory nature of the development of its first project. This reveals not only the empowering potential of commoning practices, but also the challenges related to scaling up such practices.

Keywords:

• Community Land Trust
• urban commons
• commoning
• empowerment
• social capital

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the editing committee for their fruitful feedback, as well as the CLTB staff, the social workers and families involved in the Vandenpeereboom housing project for their eagerness to share their experiences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This is the number of households that participated in the project during the research. In the beginning of 2016, this number has risen to 27. While four households left the project due to personal reasons, eight new households joined the group.

2. Interview social worker exchange platform, 10 April 2013 (conducted by Cécile Louey; all other interviews are conducted by the first author).

3. Interview Supervisor Vandenpeereboom project 1 (S1), 16 July 2015.

4. A public utility foundation is an organisation with a non-profit purpose allowed to make profit if it serves the public benefit.

5. The Brussels Housing Fund is a subsidised organisation that offers loans, rental and owner-occupied housing to households with a low and modest income.

6. Interview S1, 16 July 2015.

7. The public tender refers to the process in which companies do a price and quality bid to provide work or services to public authorities or public bodies.

8. Interview S2, 7 May 2015.

9. Interview S2, 7 May 2015.

10. Interview Member Arc en Ciel 6 (M6), 22 March 2015.

11. Interview S1, 16 July 2015.

12. Interview M6, 22 March 2015.

13. Interview M4, 20 March 2015.

14. Interview S1, 16 July 2015.

15. Interview M6, 22 March 2015.

16. Interview M7, 23 March 2015.

17. Interview S2, 7 May 2015.

18. Interview M5, 22 March 2015.

19. Interview M7, 23 March 2015.

20. Interview M2, 13 March 2015.

21. Interview M13, 7 April 2015.

22. Interview M5, 22 March 2015.

23. Interview S1, 16 July 2015.

24. Interview M2, 13 March 2015.

25. Interview M5, 22 March 2015.

26. Interview administrator Brussels Housing Fund, 20 August 2014.

27. Interview legal expert CLTB, 11 May 2015.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Innoviris [grant number 2015 PRFB 129].