Shepherdswell with Coldred Community Land Trust

11/05/2026

AGM invitation Wednesday 13th May 2026 at 7.30pm

The AGM of the Community Land trust (SCCLT) will be held in the Village Hall this coming Wednesday. Any residents with an interest in the SCCLT and its future goals and directions are invited to attend.

As background, our origins date back to 2012 when the Parish Plan was published and responses to its circulation led to a Housing Needs surveying 2013. The survey led to the PC setting up an Affordable Housing sub-committee and in 2017 the SCCLT was established as the most effective way to ultimately deliver the Housing in Carpenters Yard, next to the Village Hall which is an asset for the villages in perpetuity. Though so far we havefocused on housing, the SCCLT is a valuable community group to take steps to safeguard community Assets through the 'Community Right to Bid' if this were ever needed.

We have about 50 members. membership costs £1 and anybody in the villages may join.

Please save the date and come along on Wednesday 13th May

26/02/2025

Report from the open meeting of Shepherdswell with Coldred CLT

12/02/2025

Do you know what a Community Land Trust is? This short video will explain it in a nutshell!

26/09/2024

Yesterday at the Kent Housing Group Excellent Awards, Shepherdswell Community Land Trust was presented with the 'Special Recognition' award for our development of 10 affordable homes at Carpenters Yard.

26/09/2024

We're delighted to have been recognised for the CLT's work in this way! We must also say a HUGE thank you to Tessa O'Sullivan of RACE (and formerly the Kent Community Housing Hub) whose input and experience went a very long way towards making Carpenters Yard a reality too!

Today at the Kent Housing Group Excellence award ceremony, Shepherdswell Community Land Trust won a Special Recognition Award 🥇

Without these people pictured (and a few others in the CLT), the 10 affordable homes wouldn’t be here today. They have been a driving force throughout, showing the power of communities to help deliver affordable housing. We are so happy to have had the privilege to work with them and their partnership with English Rural Housing Association

17/09/2024

Thank you to Tessa of RACE - the Rural & Community Housing Enabling Service for Kent and Tdm recruitment for shining a light on the Carpenters Yard development. Hopefully, coverage such as this will inspire more rural parishes to develop their own for local people.

17/09/2024

A fantastic event last week where we welcomed Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, to Carpenters Yard for the official opening of the development - which is Kent’s first CLT. She is the patron of English Rural housing association who partnered with the CLT to build and manage the homes.

The Princess met residents, as well as the Bishop of Dover and representatives from RACE - the Rural & Community Housing Enabling Service for Kent, the Church Commissioners, and was shown around the development by English Rural

Images courtesy of Kent Online.

13/08/2024

We're following the developments currently taking place in Frome, Somerset for Mayday Saxonvale - a community land trust in talks to acquire a large site on which to create affordable housing and other community assets.

We are pleased to confirm we have initiated further discussions with Somerset Council regarding the potential purchase of the Saxonvale site.

We look forward to positive and constructive discussions with the Council, and to making a community-led development in Saxonvale a reality.

We will provide further updates on the progress of these discussions when we can.

17/07/2024

We've made the BBC! You can see the coverage given to the Carpenters Yard affordable housing development here:

The 10 affordable homes are built in Sheperdswell after consultation with the local community.

17/07/2024

Last week, we co-hosted our event to introduce and showcase the Carpenters Yard development to housing professionals from local authorities and parish councils from across Kent. In collaboration with RACE - the Rural & Community Housing Enabling Service for Kent, we welcomed around 40 people to Shepherdswell Village Hall and heard from a variety of speakers including English Rural, one of the new residents and our very own CLT board.