Gloucestershire
“By keeping faith, and meeting and engaging with them, the resident group, who once opposed the development now sing our praises. They accept that we were always open and honest with them and that we weren’t in it for the money.”
Summary
The Diocese of Gloucester’s proactive approach to affordable housing originated around ten years ago, with rural parishes saying that younger families were having to move out of their communities because they couldn’t afford to live there, and asking the diocese, as a major landowner, if they could help.
Geographically, the diocese is predominantly rural, although half the population lives in urban areas. Whilst house prices in Gloucester and Cheltenham are not particularly high relative to other urban areas, the Cotswolds comes near the top of the most unaffordable areas for those who work locally, being a popular location for second homes.
“We use the phrase – ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’. So when we have assets, we are aware that we should be using this well…. Money is not a dirty thing, it’s a missional opportunity”.
- Benjamin Preece Smith
Compared with other dioceses, Gloucester has a stronger balance sheet and more glebe – land which is owned and managed by the Diocesan Board of Finance. It also has a long history of good stewardship and a very able glebe committee, which is well-advised and supported. This situation is seen as a missional opportunity, using the diocese’s land and financial assets to serve the wider community. Benjamin Preece Smith, their Diocesan Secretary – and formerly the director of finance – explained: “We use the phrase – ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’. So when we have assets, we are aware that we should be using this well…. Money is not a dirty thing, it’s a missional opportunity”.
Ben’s role has been central to releasing the mission potential of the diocesan property portfolio. With Adrian Slade, formerly the diocesan social responsibility officer, he helped to set up a subsidiary property company, Good and Faithful Servant, to actively look at potential development sites with four objectives: financial value; environmental impact; community infrastructure; and affordable housing. Profits from the development company are donated back to the diocese and used for grants for mission.
The Diocese is currently engaged in two main ways:
A small number of 100% affordable housing developments on ex-benefice land, such as St Aldate’s;
A commitment to deliver the 40% on-site affordable allocation on glebe land, such as Willersey;
St Aldate’s
The driving force for the development of St Aldate’s was the management of a redundant church on a triangle of land on the edge of two newly formed parishes. This site was in a relatively deprived community, reducing its commercial value, so the diocese decided to explore a 100% affordable housing scheme to “balance out” their commercial developments elsewhere. They partnered with a local housing association, Rooftop, and agreed a sale price based on the existing value of the property, as opposed to its development potential.
The development was completed in summer 2018 and consists of 23 units, including 12 apartments, nine family homes, and two bungalows; 20 of the homes are for affordable rent and three are shared ownership. The partnership with Rooftop has been a very positive one and originally came through an introduction by a researcher from Housing Justice’s Faith in Affordable Housing initiative, who carried out a review of local housing associations on behalf of the diocese.
The St Aldate’s project proved quite challenging, because they faced unexpected opposition from a group of local residents who were concerned about the loss of a disused community hall on the site. The diocese made an effort to engage cordially with the local community. Ben told the story: “By keeping faith, and meeting and engaging with them, the resident group, who once opposed the development now sing our praises. They accept that we were always open and honest with them and that we weren’t in it for the money. The recognised that we were trying to be good Christians.”
“Because it’s housing and it’s development then it’s assumed to be bad, because you’re making money. So it’s sometimes hard to get beyond this. However, when people realise that there are young people in their community who can’t afford a home, and that one of them might be their own son or daughter, then it changes the dynamic of the conversation.”
- Benjamin Preece Smith
The proceeds from the sale – around £200,000 – have now been set aside towards the cost of a new community centre in a different, more accessible, part of the new parish. The diocese has set up a CIC (Community Interest Company) to build and manage the community centre in partnership with the residents’ group, the city council, and a local trust.
Affordable Housing on Glebe Land
On glebe land, the diocese has sought to take a different approach with regard to affordable housing from that which a commercial developer would be likely to take. In total, the diocese owns around 25 sites that could come up for development in the future, with a capacity to build up to 700 units over the next ten years, much of it on the edge of rural villages.
The diocesan glebe committee has committed to delivering the local authority required allocation of affordable housing, commonly around 40% on new developments such as Willersey. Overall, the diocese has built more affordable houses than commercial houses. Ben explained: “A commercial developer will start off by accepting the allocation, but then challenge it later on ‘viability’ grounds…. If you are purely commercially-minded, you know you can come up with an argument that would reduce the affordable housing requirement. But we don’t think that obtaining ‘best value’ means that you need to challenge the affordable housing allocation. It’s about building this into the business plan.” By honouring the local authority allocations of affordable housing when planning permission is granted, instead of seeking to dilute them in a way that a commercial developer might do, the diocese is able to make a substantial contribution to affordable housing provision in the area, without falling foul of the legally-binding requirement to obtain “best value” on the sale of glebe land.
Most commercial developers also seek to move the affordable housing off-site in order to protect the value of their commercial properties, but the Diocese of Gloucester takes a different approach. In Willersey, for example, the diocese has sought to balance the need to protect the value of the high-end housing without ‘ghettoising’ the affordable housing. Ben explained: “We know that most developers would try to get rid of all affordable housing on the site, because it’s a chocolate-box Cotswolds village on the edge of an AONB [Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty], but we’re committed to a mixed development.”
Having an in-house property development subsidiary has given the diocese more control over the planning process, using the proceeds from previous land sales to fund the pre-planning costs for the next development, instead of having to rely on commercial developers or promoters. Ben believes that other dioceses should be willing to accept more risks, although this does require the necessary in-house expertise to manage them. In Gloucester, Ben’s own background in finance and the professional skills of volunteers, have made this possible, with the support of the Board of Finance and local Bishops, who are very “mission-focused”.
What Next?
Since this work, the Diocese have continued to focus on meeting housing need. They are now working to provide move-on housing and a community café on the site of a closed church. This would be aimed at people who have experienced homelessness, building on the success in providing temporary accommodation during COVID-19 to break the cycles of rough sleeping. This could help around a third of all rough sleepers in Gloucester.
Join the Conversation
Have questions or comments to share? Join our online community to join the conversation.