The Long Road to Real Homes: How Community-Led Housing is Taking Root
After more than five years of work, we are beginning to see the fruits of community-led housing projects that started as bold ideas and are now becoming homes. Astry Close in Lawrence Weston and Constable Road in Lockleaze are two projects that exemplify how, with the right partners and unwavering commitment, communities can deliver lasting, affordable housing.
Astry Close, led by Ambition Lawrence Weston, and Constable Road, driven by Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, have both secured planning permission for 36 and 19 affordable homes respectively. Now, as these projects move into their technical design and construction phases, the significance of strong partnerships comes sharply into focus. Brighter Places and Abri, the housing associations partnering on these developments, have stepped in to ensure these homes are delivered and managed in a way that upholds community priorities. Meanwhile, E G Carter will take these plans from blueprint to bricks and mortar.
Physical models used for the co-design process with local residents
But delivering community-led housing is not just about getting homes built. It’s about securing long-term affordability, resilience, and local stewardship. While these neighbourhood groups will not own the homes themselves, they will own the land. This crucial distinction allows them to retain a long-term stake through ground rents, ensuring that the homes remain genuinely affordable for future generations. Community leadership in this process has been essential, not just in securing funding and planning permission but in rallying local support, navigating political landscapes, and ensuring that the needs of the people who will live in these homes remain at the centre of every decision.
The reality is that these projects are hard. They require significant time, expertise, and dedication. To name names, the involvement of Tom Beale at Ecomotive has been instrumental, demonstrating the absolute necessity of expert project management in bringing community-led housing to life. This process demands resilience, but it also requires collaboration, between local groups, technical teams, funders, and political stakeholders. Without alignment between all these forces, community-led housing cannot happen.
It’s easy to talk about the challenges, but what matters most is the opportunity. Community-led housing is not just about building homes; it’s about shaping the future of our cities. It is about giving people agency over their neighbourhoods, ensuring affordability for decades to come, and embedding quality into the fabric of everyday life. We mustn’t lose sight of the core principles that make these projects possible: a fine balance of financial viability, genuine affordability, and design quality that stands the test of time. Because if we don’t prioritise these elements, what is all this effort for?
Astry Close and Constable Road are milestones, not endpoints. They are proof that communities, when given the right tools and support, can deliver real change. And as these homes rise from the ground, they will stand as a testament to the power of persistence, partnership, and people who refuse to accept that their neighbourhoods can’t be something better.
Images: Community Led design process - presentation panels