The research was completed with fellow QCAP colleague Prof. Brendan Murtagh as well as representatives from Development Trusts NI. The workshop was hosted in collaboration with Rural Community Network at The Junction in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone and welcomed over 60 delegates from the community and voluntary sector, public officials from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, local elected representatives as well as private sector practitioners working in architecture and planning.  

The research has provided the Housing Executive with a set of recommendations on how best to advance community-led housing models across both urban and rural areas of Northern Ireland. It has also reflected on the impacts of local efforts to design and deliver community-led responses across the region as well as the wider lessons learnt from practice in other parts of the UK, Europe and beyond. In discussion with local practitioners, the research also interrogated the challenges linked to delivery and how best these might be addressed by focussing on:

1) Developing a more robust enabling environment by investing in the development of skills and core-capabilities, especially around finance and asset-based development.

2) Creating a stronger regulatory framework by introducing policy instruments that can better support community asset transfer processes.

3) Increasing the sector’s access to finance through a blended approach focussing on centrally administered grant aid, low interest loans or other available social finance products.

4) Co-ordinated investment and skills support at the pre and post project phase for dedicated technical or feasibility work as well as the development of sustainable housing or facilities management systems.

5) Formation of a new dedicated local community housing platform to enable peer to peer learning, exchange of best ‘what works’ practice and a framework for relevant technical support.    

In addition to the presentation of the QCAP/DTNI research, the workshop provided a useful platform for other relevant contributions from DTNI, the Architectural Heritage Fund, Rural Community Network and Rural Housing Association, especially in relation to what type of support is available for community-led housing and a better understanding of local housing need and demand across rural areas.

 

The workshop closed with a series of discussions with delegates encouraged to reflect on the type of skills or competencies needed to advance local community-led housing responses and how they could see grassroots approaches being advanced, despite the broader challenges created by the current political and economic climate.

Moving forward, the discussions and the workshop attendance demonstrated a growing interest and appetite for community-led housing models across Northern Ireland but equally a pressing need for institutional support to help transform innovative ideas into impactful practice.