Access to Land & Finance for Community-Led Housing: Short case studies from Africa, Europe and Latin America

Part II - May 2022

This publication is the second issue of five short-case studies focusing on how different community-led housing initiatives across the globe have managed to access land and finance. The first one published in October 2021 is available below.

This short publication reviews some of the winning projects of the regional CLH Award by focusing on how they managed to secure land and accessed funding to plan and build, refurbish or improve, their living environment. It is urbaMonde’s belief that, despite the diversity of their local contexts and particularities, these practices can inspire other people who are trying to conceive or strengthen CLH projects, especially given that access to affordable finance and land tend to be some of the main obstacles for developing CLH all over the world.

Through five new case studies, you will learn about different land management and financial mechanisms used by projects in Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Brazil, Switzerland and Germany - thus exploring a variety of contexts while exposing their difficulties, hopes, opportunities and ultimately presenting the solutions found by those groups of people.

Through all the case studies, the importance of local, regional and/or national governments’ support comes as crucial. This support can take the form of land tenure formalisation (Harare), low-interests loans (Berlin), loans with favourable repayment conditions (Rio de Janeiro), loans and crossed subsidies (Zurich), land and guarantees (Montevideo).

We hope this publication will inspire more policy-makers to be innovative and supportive with Community-Led Housing initiatives over the world.

▶ DOWNLOAD PART II (PDF, 8.3 MB)

Part I - October 2021

Through five case studies, you will learn about several different land and financial mechanisms used by projects in the United Kingdom, Colombia, Argentina, Spain and Senegal - thus exploring a variety of contexts while exposing their difficulties, hopes, opportunities and ultimately presenting the solutions found by those groups of people.

Community-Led Housing refers to a multitude of practices where people unite to collectively take control of the planning, managing and - sometimes - constructing or improving their living environment, including housing, communal or public spaces, areas for recreational or income generating activities, amongst others. CLH is extremely diverse and is not a guarantee for a more environmentally-friendly construction or a low carbon footprint way of life, but it definitely offers people the power of taking collective decisions about how to live.

As this CLH project-review shows, the participation of the residents, the interactions with the neighbourhood - and the collaboration with public authorities and other stakeholders - leads to comprehensive projects, including innovations in eco-conception and energy-efficiency, affordability, circular and solidarity economy, social inclusion, and mutual care among neighbours.

In any case, CLH projects always involve a two-fold complexity: how to access land that comes with tenure security, and how to access affordable and inclusive finance. These elements will be at the heart of this case-study review.

▶ DOWNLOAD PART I (PDF, 13.6 MB)

For a low resolution PDF, please download this version (7.4 MB)