Oxfordshire Community Land Trust (OCLT) has made significant progress since the opening of their first development at Crofts Court and the launch of their share offer in November 2022. The development comprises of eight one-and-two-bedroom apartments, all of which are affordable homes for local people.
Following the selection of tenants, they have now moved in, and the Tenant Coop is slowly getting underway. All residents are members of the Coop and have agreed who will take on the roles of Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. Alice Hemming from Coops UK is providing support to the Coop. The next meeting is scheduled for early October.
The support of local people (some of you reading this), has been critical to the success of OCLT. The share offer raised an impressive £583,000, which means that 25% of the Crofts Court apartments is directly financed by the community through the share offer. Another 25% is mortgage, and almost 50% is through the generous grants from Vale of White Horse District Council and Future Oxfordshire Partnership.
With the opening of Crofts Court, OCLT has taken a significant step towards creating affordable homes for local people. However, there is still a long way to go, and OCLT needs to secure more land and homes to gradually build its portfolio of permanently affordable homes for Oxfordshire.
OCLT is committed to creating thriving communities through affordable homes and community-led development. The success of Crofts Court and the share offer is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. OCLT is looking forward to continuing their work to provide affordable homes for local people in Oxfordshire.
If you’d like to see more Crofts Courts, there are several things that you can do now:
- Anyone can join OCLT for £1.
- If you are a local landowner or houseowner you might be willing to donate or sell OCLT your asset off market to build more permanently affordable homes for the people of Oxfordshire. Get in touch here.
- You might wish to help OCLT by donating a regular amount here to help the team do more of this work.
