An exciting collaboration of Thame Community Land Trust, Thame Town Council, South Oxfordshire District Council and housing association Soha Housing will provide much needed quality affordable homes in Thame.
Soha has been working with the Trust (TCLT) for more than four years. The Trust agreed a contract to purchase the land to the west of Windmill Road and obtained a planning permission. Getting grants to progress the build, however, was taking its time. That meant that, with the contract due to expire at the end of the summer, there was a risk that the land would be lost for use for affordable housing. Soha stepped in and bought the land with the support of the Trust. Founded by local Thame residents in 2018 and supported by Thame Town Council and the Community Housing Fund, TCLT aims to build genuinely affordable housing for local people who are unable to access homes through the open market or social housing. The funding that TCLT secured enabled it to identify and obtain a site that could be brought forward at a value to allow all the homes to be affordable and to design a project that met local needs. TCLT were successful in getting a full planning permission for the development that is well supported by the local community. Preparatory work is continuing, with the build contract tendered over the summer. It came back within budget, and SODC will provide a portion of the grant funding that is necessary to deliver the scheme. Additional grant needs to be secured from Homes England but this awaits the Government deciding on its spending priorities. All parties are hoping those will become clear with the 30 October budget. Once Homes England’s funding is secured, construction will start. Soha is dedicated to realising TCLT’s original design vision for the project, which includes 31 new homes —16 for affordable rent and 15 for shared ownership —constructed to net zero carbon standards. Each home will be allocated by SODC to people local to the Thame area or those with a strong connection, reflecting the local residency clauses devised by the Trust. This is the third time that Soha has worked with a Community Land Trust, previous projects being in Oxford and Hook Norton. Trusts choose to partner with Soha for its development expertise, the ability to secure necessary finance to deliver the scheme and its access to social housing grant from Homes England.