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LibDem housing proposal sees how the land lies |
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The Liberal Democrats have unveiled a new housing policy [PDF], which aims to provide 100,000 affordable dwellings through a new Mutual Homes scheme.
 There is a strong recognition of the role that land plays in bringing about affordable housing. At the centre of the plan is the establishing of a Community Land Trust (CLT), which would own the land on which the homes are built, and a Mutual Home Ownership Trust (MHOT), which would own and manage the homes. "Community Land Trusts are crucial," say the LibDems. "They hold the public land subsidy that makes the homes affordable. CLTs are non-profit making companies existing to hold land, in perpetuity, for the benefit of the local community.
A top priority for an incoming Liberal Democrat Government would be the early identification of land for new CLTs and guidance for councils on setting them up. Councils would be required to set up and publish a register of all publicly-owned land in their area."
But the LibDems realise it's not enough to simply build more houses on "surplus" land; indeed a major problem are the many empty homes around the country.
The LibDem plan proposes to incorporate these homes as part of the overall scheme.
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