Housing for highest need from the Church of England
Imagine if the poorest and most marginalised communities came up with their own plans for redevelopment in their neighbourhood. Imagine also if part of that local community happened to have a values-driven development agency they could call on, and a housing association that said “yes please!” when asked if they can deliver more homes, even in the most challenging contexts. Imagine if the local council was engaged as a genuine partner with shared aims right from the start of projects.
This vision is part of the ambitious agenda set out in the Church of England’s ‘Coming Home’ report in 2021, and in 2025 it is becoming a reality in Birmingham. The Church of England Birmingham has long been present in the most deprived parts of the city through local parish congregations and church-linked community projects. But now the new Church Development Agency (CDA) and Church Housing Association (CHA), set up in response to the ‘Coming Home’ report, are available to work in partnership with these groups to deliver more and better housing where it is needed most. Wider relationships are also being formed - with the local Sikh community and other charities for example - to address the desperate need for truly affordable family homes in the city. Crucially, the input of local councillors and council officers is being sought right from the start, so that scheme proposals best meet the needs of the communities in which they will be built.
The CDA and CHA are specifically structured to work in partnership with local churches in order to help develop new homes where they are most needed, not just where they are easiest to build. By centering plans in the relationships with the local church, local council and existing community groups, what might otherwise be insurmountable barriers can be tackled. Seasoned housing professionals in these organisations work with the local community to identify potential sites and develop plans for them, drawing on resources and expertise from the Church of England’s growing network around housing.
One example of this is a derelict and neglected site in Handsworth which has been an eyesore for many years and has become a blight on the local community, attracting anti-social behaviour and even arson attacks. After one fire tragically resulted in a fatality, the church and the local Sikh community formed an alliance to make sure the site was brought back into use for much-needed family housing. Already the CDA is engaged in dialogue with the current landowner and an architect has been jointly appointed with the gurdwara to develop a plan which responds positively to the local council’s brief for the site. But this is just one of more than a dozen schemes that are underway across the diocese.
The CDA works directly to a brief set by or agreed with the local church. Meanwhile the CHA as a housing association is developing a model that aims to provide truly affordable housing at social rent alongside community-based support to help the communities that are created to flourish. Because that support can link in with existing local charities and church communities there is a depth and resilience to this model beyond what other housing associations may be able to offer in these circumstances.
The challenge is one of scale; due to funding and resource constraints, the CDA and CHA are currently only able to work in dioceses in specific areas around the West Midlands. A new national team at the Church House in Westminster are looking to provide mapping tools and other support to enable other Church of England dioceses outside the West Midlands to start their own journeys. As the projects across the West Midlands demonstrate how realistic and achievable the ‘Coming Home’ vision is, momentum - and demand for the CDA’s services - is already starting to grow.
