iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Which is a long way of agreeing with you in spirit, that it's about the different things we expect the state to fund, and the cost/benefit of the state investing in better places for low income communities.

000

We see this esp when CLTs want to develop shared facilities, or cohousing amenities, which HE won't enable/fund, and which cannot be built & maintained by rental income.

100

Nor is it very affordable for the leaseholders (via RtB) who get stung with enormous bills when councils try to get on top of the backlog of poor maintenance.

100

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I agree it shouldn't mean poor people = poor maintenance/facilities. But I suppose the reality is that with a lot of historic stock, the rent alone (even with housing benefit) doesn't adequately fund it, and councils were kneecapped in the 80s from cross-subsidy from general fund.

100

Though I've heard academics say if your objective is to tackle housing poverty the UK system is better overall.

100

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Contrast with the UK where it was often built cheaply in the 60s and with whopping debts in the 70s, maintenance catastrophically under-funded from the 80s, and also targeted at those most in need (with least income) plus RtB, and few examples where tenants have any agency or sense of ownership.

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My understanding of social housing in Switzerland (as in much of the continent) is that it's less focused on poverty/need so the income profile is more balanced, may be part of the reason? There's also a lot of co-op housing which often requires buying shares of up to £5k to rent a flat.

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Can you help Two Up Two Down CLT (formerly Homebaked CLT) to buy back Anfield? They've launched a community share issue targeting 4% return after year two, with £16k raised so far... invest.twouptwodown.org.uk

invest.twouptwodown.org.uk

Invest in Two Up Two Down | Community Share Offer 2026

Zite is the fastest way to build apps with AI and no code.

000

Reposted by Tom Chance

Confederation of Co-operative Housing @coophousinguk.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust is looking for new voluntary directors. Closing date 7th October. More information in the link below! #coophousing

bhclt.org.uk

Brighton & Hove Community Land Trust

Stewardship of land and other assets for community benefit

001

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I can endorse the quality :) I'll have to look out for the others.

020

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

We're on the cusp of a transformation in community power in the land and development system. Read about the big leaps forward we've made in recent years, and what's needed to realise this opportunity in the community land trust movement. www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/news-and-eve...

communitylandtrusts.org.uk

130

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

An appropriate pint after another day working on community land trusts, eh @guyshrubsole.bsky.social ?

150

Yes I think I'm getting at the latter, but I'd be interested in how you undo 45 years of damage to get that system working at that scale again. For the last 15 years we seem to be caught in a loop of low ambition and diminished capacity.

That's a good point. I guess the (v.senior) analyst's point is that (in theory!) LHA and other benefits flex to meet the changing need. The counterargument might be the instability this still leaves them with, all the friction in the system, not having a secure home. Plus the human cost - not just £

but I've never seen anyone try to articulate a longer-term horizon to structurally change the housing market, whether 'back to the 60s' or some other scenario, in which social rent again makes up a very large part of housebuilding and is seen as an investment in essential infrastructure.

It would be really interesting to see a 10 or 20 year plan, a sort of housing industrial strategy, exploring how the different moving parts could be brought together, and accounting for fluctuations in the dependencies you mention. The govt has been doing a bit of this focused on re-capitalising RPs

220

Mark Robinson @mr.place · 07/09/2026

Very interesting, it covers questions I've had reading these analyses over the years (while wanting them to be correct!) Especially -- as one MHCLG analyst put it to me -- the relatively 'efficiency' of LHA directly meeting the point of need vs social rent which could house people no longer in need

210

Reposted by Tom Chance

This is important.

021

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

These have become the main source of spam in my inbox (and gradually my spam folder). Totally ineffective marketing using some half-arsed AI research to try to suggest a link between their offer and my charity, almost always irrelevant or totally inappropriate.

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Sounds interesting! Will it be available to watch online?

000

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This article by @will-davies.bsky.social is about as good a summary on NEETs and the challenges faced by young people as you'll read. It makes a lot of 'journalism' and discussion in the press and on the radio seem like brain rot in comparison. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

William Davies · Young People Are Different: What do Neets need?

Those who look for the cause of today’s resurgence of Neets in a more recent global shock, the Covid pandemic, need to...

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

What does the new planning framework do for communities in England? Diddly squat. Tho' there are other positive changes -- clearer policy, process improvements, better on some aspects of affordable housing. www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Agree 100%, also applies to small charities and social enterprises. Half the time we're looking at new legal duties or admin burdens and thinking we'll just have to wing it to an extent because it's not realistic to fully comply.

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Congratulations, Matt, it has been so refreshing having your continuity after years of churn, and the cabinet role is recognition of how important housing is. Hopefully we'll hear soon about your decision on a revolving pre-development fund, too, as our pipeline is withering away at the moment 🤞

000

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

My recollection and a quick ask of Gemini suggests she's not opposed and will carry on with the LUF and support MHCLG opening ownership data etc, but is not really a radical or reformer on this stuff either.

100

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Any intel on what she thinks about land reform, community ownership, etc?

100

PS part of the reason for my befuddlement is we keep getting knocked back on funding bids to pilot and expand this area of work! Drawing blanks on funders up for developing this area.

100

But I'm not sure what we can reasonably say about scale in the next four years (to 2030).

100

Pioneering place-sensitive nature recovery at the hyper-local scale: a multi-tier, multi-directional governance approach

I think there's something in saying that if Defra wants communities to step up, it needs to have tools they can use, and community ownership is one tool that could have much wider application as shown in papers like this www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications...

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

by Georgina Treloar

A new era of community ownership

E.g. I touched on it in this blog on a wider community ownership strategy acrewoods.net/2026/07/08/a... But it was a bit 'off the top of my head' re Defra and I didn't spend a lot of time looking at and thinking about what we'd learn on this count from eg the Scottish Land Commission.

acrewoods.net

Visions limited to public subsidy of community spaces underplay the case for community ownership.

All good stuff. Do you have any feeling for where community ownership fits in this? I've some tentative thoughts but don't feel anyone has really developed a clear agenda that provides a meaningful part of a 30x30 strategy.

I suspect he'll lean on the RSH and new consumer standards and laws etc to include HAs alongside LAs. Otherwise as you say it's a very long term project. A bit like his mayoralty, and Sadiq Khan's - and big up the rise in council house building and talk about council housing which people understand.

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Reposted by Tom Chance

Thoughts on how the @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social Productive State framework could incorporate, and turbocharge, community ownership (and contrasting with the usual unambitious framing of its potential) acrewoods.net/2026/07/08/a...

acrewoods.net

A new era of community ownership

Visions limited to public subsidy of community spaces underplay the case for community ownership.

112

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Governments have talked about 'fixing the broken market' for years, and lots of reforms have aimed to level the playing field for SMEs, like forthcoming changes to the NPPF. But when push comes to shove they're unwilling to do anything to clip wings of the big housebuilders due to short-term impact

000

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

acrewoods.net

A new era of community ownership

Visions limited to public subsidy of community spaces underplay the case for community ownership.

112

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

This analysis by the Housing Forum found that in 2023 the ave cost of building a house was higher than its sale value in 60 local authority areas, assuming low land value and no affordable hsg requirement. Probably worse now. housingforum.org.uk/reports/key-...

housingforum.org.uk

The Cost of Building a House : The Housing Forum

How has the thing we need most become unaffordable? A new report by The Housing Forum answers the all-important question: How much does it cost to build a house? The Housing Forum, is a cross-sector b...

000

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

We're looking for two new trustees for the CLT Network, and as a member-led body our board would particularly like people actively involved with their local CLT. Please share around and have a look! www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/who-we-are/v...

communitylandtrusts.org.uk

Community Land Trust Network - Trustee Recruitment 2026

The CLT Network is recruiting 2 trustees to join our dynamic organisation that is behind a growing movement of communities stewarding places and homes.

000

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

I'm giving a talk about the political philosophy of land ownership in Shrewsbury on Tues 30th, come along! Facebook users can see more info here www.facebook.com/events/21419... cc @guyshrubsole.bsky.social whose books I will of course refer to

185

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Yes, Craig will have to learn from Livingstone and Khan who successfully courted Green and Lib Dec second preferences.

Samira Shackle @samirashackle.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Reposted by Tom Chance

I have to say, it's making me feel a little insane hearing commentators say Ed Miliband shouldn't be chancellor because of his "ideological zeal" for Net Zero, in a week where temperatures are so extreme that my kids are being sent home early every day and it's regularly 30 degrees inside my house

722699812

Reposted by Tom Chance

Co-operatives UK @cooperativesuk.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

🌍 Co‑operate and we can change the world. That’s the theme of #CoopFortnight – on now until 5 July. 👏 🤩 Thanks to the co‑operator stars of this film, which is guaranteed to help you keep the theme in mind for the entire Fortnight and beyond! (1/4)

121

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Great to see @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social paper by Mathew Lawrence and Alex Williams drawing on tools we already have in the box, including CLTs as a way to hold land value for public good. Not a niche hobby activity, but a structural change in land policy. actionnetwork.org/forms/the-pr...

actionnetwork.org

Read Mainstream's new paper 'The Productive State: A Framework for Manchesterism'

I've just downloaded Mainstream's new paper by Mathew Lawrence and Alex Williams - The Productive State: A Framework for Manchesterism. Read this new contribution to the debate about how Labour can b...

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Seeing the community in Bristol, ten years on, reminds me why we do this work. To unpick and rewire that system to make this commonplace. Not just an interesting niche of demonstrators, but a sea change in how we see placemaking and stewardship.

020

Tom Chance @tomchance.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

But this concept is currently resisted at every level of the system - in the allocation of resources, industry practices, policy frameworks, partnerships, power dynamics and mental models. It's as true of charitable funding and housing association practice as it is of Homes England and developers.