A resident-led housing trust which aimed to buy and provide homes at housing allowance rates has been dissolved.
Thanet Community Housing – a Community Land Trust started in 2019 and established in 2020 – had been in negotiations to buy a plot of land in Cliftonville which had planning permission for four family homes and was also in talks with Thanet council about building on land in Minster, off St Mary’s Road, that has planning permission for three small bungalows.
The hope was to provide affordable housing with rents matching Thanet’s Local Housing Allowance rates.
But it has now been announced that the Trust is disbanded after the Cliftonville purchase encountered a dispute over parking and then, before this could be resolved, the covid pandemic and other issues hit.
In explanation Trust vice chairman Rowan Dickman said: “Having appointed the architects and completed a survey in readiness for planning permission, we were confronted with a dramatic rise in in costs for materials, due in part to the pandemic and possibly Brexit. Having put a great deal of time, effort and resources into the project, it came as a major blow to the Trustees.
“The combination of pressures of work commitments and the stress of keeping the Trust functioning throughout the pandemic, via Zoom meetings, became untenable for a number of our Trustees. Subsequently our Chair, Secretary and Treasurer had to take a step back from their duties as Trustees.
“Given that this left the Trust with only three active Trustees and another two active members, we were confronted with prospect of not having enough Trustees to make the running of the Trust tenable.
“As the Trust is a membership led organisation we were aware that members / supporters may have strong views regarding the future of the Trust and may be prepared to fill any vacant Trustee roles, thus allowing the Trust to continue to function.
“It was decided to organise a meeting on March 25 which would be a general meeting and a chance for any members/ supporters to have a voice in the future of the Trust, to that end all members and supporters were contacted.
“On the day only three trustees and two members attended the meeting. As the decision to dissolve the Trust can only be made at a general meeting and the obvious lack of interest and support, we felt that the Trust could not run for another year in limbo and therefore the sad decision to dissolve the Trust was made by those present.”
Mr Dickman thanked all those involved and said he had “no regrets.”
He added: “The vision still remains worthwhile and given the present economic circumstances, I would suggest vital. A community is only as good and healthy depending on how it looks after its most vulnerable and at least we can say we tried.”
The Trust had aimed to become a registered housing provider and had pledged to create properties that were low impact, carbon efficient.
