Thorpe-le-Soken Community Land Trust

Welcome to Thorpe-le-Soken Community Land Trust.

In common with other villages in England, Thorpe-le-Soken’s beauty and hence its desirability comes at a price for the very community it houses. The ever-increasing demands on limited housing stock, in a location where the incumbent population are rightly resistant to un-restricted development of greenfield sites, creates a shortage of housing. That shortage restricts supply just where demand is high, resulting in inflationary pressure on locally available housing stock. Land and property prices increase to the point where local young families and individuals can no longer afford to live in and contribute to the communities they have grown up with and benefited from.

In 2019, the idea of creating an entity which could support the housing needs of local people, at an affordable price, was the key objective. Based on the success of another local model, we looked at how something similar could be formed. Having consulted with the community, approaching key figures with essential skills, forming a committee, we then sought professional advice on the options. We were successful in obtaining a grant of £5,000 from Tendring District Council and the trustees thought best to setup a Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies – otherwise known as a Community Land Trust. This has been achieved and we now seek opportunities to achieve our vision and goals.