Glebe land & affordable housing event
Click on the image to watch the recording of the event
Just over 100 people attended this term’s Church Housing online event on 24th September.
We explored the opportunities and challenges around using the Church of England's glebe land to provide affordable housing.
Laura Atkinson, Senior Rural Housing Enabler and Community Led Housing Advisor for the Rural Community Council of Essex, told the story of creating a new housing community of 7 affordable homes on glebe land in Roxwell, Essex. (Download Laura’s presentation)
Deputy Diocesan Secretary Kate Cortez from Truro Diocese talked about how she developed their diocesan glebe strategy (download a copy here) in light of the Coming Home report. The strategy seeks to tread the fine line between providing desperately needed affordable homes for local people in Cornwall, and generating the ‘best return’ for the diocese on their land assets. (Download Kate’s presentation)
The legal complexities of disposing of glebe land (through selling or leasing) were unpacked by VWV Law Firm Partner Sarah Outram, who shared a couple of case studies on the kind of dilemmas faced, and explained how a diocese can justify a disposal at less than the highest financial value. (Download Sarah’s presentation)
The event concluded with a reflection from Hugh Nelson, bishop-elect for the Diocese of Worcester, who said that the root meaning of the word glebe is earth, and the same word is used in the book of Genesis to describe the source material God used to make for mankind. We are people of earth, and the Church wants to create opportunities for people to be ‘grounded’ in the land, by having a stable, decent and affordable house to call home.
The event background:
Glebe land is land owned by the Church of England, held in trust by Diocesan Boards of Finance (DBFs), and used to generate income to pay clergy stipends. Most is agricultural, but some is developable, and DBFs may aspire to provide some affordable homes on their land to help alleviate the housing crisis. What can we learn from where this has been done successfully?
Using glebe land for affordable housing faces financial, legal, and community challenges. As registered charities, DBFs are legally required to maximise returns from their assets. If they want to help provide affordable homes on glebe land, rather than market housing, the financial return would be lower. How can this tension be navigated?
Then the disposal of glebe land is governed by the Church Property Measure 2018. This requires specific consents and procedures, which add legal complexity and time to the development process.
And what if some local people want to see more affordable homes made available, but others vociferously oppose housebuilding on the church’s land? How can these hurdles be overcome?
