Focus on: Granby 4 Streets CLT, in Liverpool, UK
UpdatedSaving houses from demolition and a neighbourhood from gentrification
Every week, the CoHabitat Network introduces you to a collaborative housing project documented on the cohabitat.io database.
In a culturally-mixed and poor neighbourhood of Liverpool, Granby 4 Streets Community Land Trust (CLT) emerged from a resident group that campaigned against the demolition of traditional brick houses and the relocation of the community.
By revitalising the neighbourhood and attracting people from other areas through the implementation of different activities, Granby Residents Association (GRA) progressively gained attention and funding to stop the demolition process and restore empty houses.
Today the renovated homes are prioritised for families who grew up in Granby and that left when it became a stigmatised neighbourhood or when they had been displaced by demolition plans.
The community successfully halted the demolition of the buildings in four of the 14 streets of the district and set up a Community Land Trust (CLT) to prevent buildings from being sold for purposes that do not serve the community.
In Granby, the project is still of a very small scale, with 11 houses for residential uses (six rental and five ownership homes), but its long term goal is to renovate all houses in the Granby triangle, which has a potential of providing homes for 250 families in housing need.
Granby Four Streets CLT, a case study in our publication on access to land and finance for community-led housing
This short publication reviews some of the winning projects of the regional CLH Award by focusing on how they managed to secure land and accessed funding to plan and build, refurbish or improve, their living environment. It is our belief that, despite the diversity of their local contexts and particularities, these practices can inspire other people who are trying to conceive or strengthen CLH projects, especially given that access to affordable finance and land tend to be some of the main obstacles for developing CLH all over the world.
▶ Download here (PDF, 7.4 MB)