Technical assistance

The Technical Assistance Fund (TAF) has been established to provide community groups with a grant of up to £2,500 so that they can employ a consultant or consultants for up to five days to assist with certain aspects of the development of their community land trust, and to work up their initial ideas into a comprehensive business plan that is ‘investment ready’. This consultancy can be used in a variety of different ways including, but not restricted to:

1. Community – General liaison with the group, site finding and general support;
2. Legal – Choice of legal form, tenures, skills for Board, choice of stakeholders;
3. Financials– Feasibility and affordability and identifying potential funders, calculating potential revenue streams against building costs;
4. Procurement – Building methods including choice of professional team and tendering vs negotiation;
5. Local Authority ‘buy in’ – Working with local housing and planning authorities to agree how the proposed scheme fits into their policies, resolving the form of Section 106.

This is not a comprehensive list of work that a CLT should have undertaken before seeking investment. CLTs are encouraged to put as much thought as possible into the requirements of the project at this development stage and draw on any support that may be available to make a strong case for investment.

The ultimate outcome of a Technical Assistance Fund grant is a robust business plan that can be used to achieve financial support from the CLT Investment Fund, commercial banks and other private lenders.  The process of developing this plan should lead to greater knowledge amongst committee members and confidence in the success of their community land trust.

Applicants will need to be able to demonstrate that they are, or seek to become, independent bodies.  The panel strongly feels that support by independent professionals, whilst necessary and welcomed, is not a substitute for an engaged committee/steering group.  Applications that are not clearly able to demonstrate the independence and commitment of the individuals/community involved may not be successful.

All applicants to the Technical Assistance fund will need to demonstrate the affordability of the proposed housing and how it stands to benefit the wider community.

The Fund is interested in hearing about the use of local materials and sustainable building techniques.  Question 4.1 gives you the opportunity to explain whether this is appropriate to your project.  Your answers to this question will not affect the outcome of your application in any way.

The Panel will look to make grants that help to ‘test’ the Community Land Trust model.  This means that diversity will be a consideration when assessing applications to the Technical Assistance Fund: issues such as proposed building methods, a commitment to sustainability and the location of the project may all be taken into account when reaching a decision as to which groups receive funding.