Cornwall Council’s Revolving Loan Fund

Overview

Cornwall Council operates a Revolving Loan Fund specifically for community-led housing schemes. The Fund was originally established by a collaboration of District Councils before they were amalgamated into the Unitary Authority in 2009.

  • The facility helped a number of early community land trusts to build homes, supported by an independent County-wide hub, Cornwall CLT, working in partnership with local housing associations
  • Since 2009, the Fund has increased from £1 million to £4 million as demand from community-led groups and their partners has increased
  • Loans are made at commercial lending rates (currently 4.5%) to comply with State Aid rules[PD1]
  • The County’s Fund has been used to support five community land trust schemes to date, all involving affordable homes for sale. Funding is likely to be extended to rented schemes in the future
  • During 2018, the Council intends to simplify the application process, require more business planning up front from applicants and produce an information booklet to explain the Find and how to access it
  • A separate Revolving Loan Fund for small Custom and Self Build sites has recently been agreed, with an initial £550,000 allocated

Key messages

  • The ability of the original Revolving Loan Fund to meet short term or unforeseen borrowing needs made a huge difference to the first generation of Community Land Trusts in Cornwall
  • Revolving Loan Funds may work best as one element of a supportive and strategic policy environment for community-led housing within a local authority
  • Revolving Loan Funds need to be promoted and publicised to maximise their potential
  • Revolving Loan Funds can be set up and operated by small local authorities working together and, where appropriate, pooling their Community Housing Fund allocations

A snapshot of Cornwall Council’s overall support for community-led housing can be found in the Introduction to CLH of the Toolkit.

Useful links

Cornwall Council’s Housing Delivery Manager is Sam.irving@cornwall.gov.uk

Cornwall CLT can be found here. 

 

Published in March 2018

Get support

For help & advice contact your local enabling hub or relevant national support organisation

Our partners

Community Led Homes is a partnership project between the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, Locality, the National Community Land Trust Network and UK Cohousing . These organisations work together to make it easier for communities to access support and build a lasting community led housing movement.

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