Housing Futures: Community-led Alternatives for Greater Manchester is a research partnership which seeks to advance understanding about the current and future potential of community-led housing to contribute to a more equitable, inclusive and democratic housing landscape in Greater Manchester. Please visit the main Housing Futures website for more information on our events programme and the research partnership more widely and click here to be added to the Housing Futures mailing list.
Who we are
Housing Futures brings together academics, housing sector professionals, and members of the Greater Manchester cooperative and housing movement to co-produce knowledge and action about a range of community-led models, from cooperatives and co-housing to community land trusts. We work through a research steering group which is supported by a wider reference group of informed advisors. Greater Manchester Housing Action is a key partner and will be taking forward the findings of the research when the partnership concludes at the end of 2018.
Our approach
We aim to integrate practical experiences in Greater Manchester, across the UK, and internationally, with existing academic knowledge in order to understand the many benefits, as well as the challenges, involved in realising community-led models for housing. We will produce a set of proposals tailored specifically to the Greater Manchester context about the kinds of approaches that may be most appropriate for meeting the needs of particular groups – with a focus on low-income neighbourhoods; and for achieving ‘affordability plus’ outcomes: such as improving health and well-being, or enhancing local democracy. Through learning exchanges, networking events, and public debates, we are building a Greater Manchester Community-led Housing Network made up of individuals and organisations interested in taking action in response to our findings.
Dr Sophie King is the Realising Just Cities lead for Housing Futures. Email Sophie.
