On a blustery day on a building site in the Lakeland village of Portinscale, cement mixers are mixing, a radio is playing, and in just a few weeks now, new people will be calling it home.
New affordable housing is not a sight you see every day in the Lake District as work on the Pow Wood development nears an end.
Built on a strip of former woodland, close to the turn-off from the A66, it has given way to a total of four, three-bed homes for local people.
Pow Wood also represents the first ever project by the Above Derwent Community Land Trust.
The volunteer organisation, set up in 2016, was born out of a sub-group of Above Derwent Parish Council, which serves Portinscale, Braithwaite, Thornthwaite, Beck Wythop and the Newlands Valley.
Given the behind-the-scenes work that has gone into getting this far, Don Thoburn, the housing trust chairman and parish councillor, doesn’t have to be reminded to smile for the camera.
Don, of Thornthwaite, said: “To say we are all very proud is an understatement. Initially, we thought we were never going to make it as there was so many hoops and things to go through.
“We have contacted and had help from other community land trusts who to this day still can’t believe we have managed to do it in such a short period!
“It doesn’t appear to be a short period to us but if you talk to other community land trusts, they tell us they have been at it far longer and are nowhere near this stage.”
Don added: “Braithwaite has got a very high percentage of second homes, Newlands has got a very high percentage of second homes, and there are quite a lot in Portinscale and Thornthwaite as well, so this was something that me and a number of others have felt very passionate about.
“We know there are people in the parish who are desperately looking for homes. Seven years down the line we have got our first houses —- it’s not been easy and one of the most difficult things has been finding a plot.
“The most a community land trust can pay for a plot, if we want to receive any sort of grant funding is £15,000, and we need the grant funding to lower the cost.”
As much as the trust would like to do more, there are many unseen “hurdles and hoops,” to overcome to reach this point.
In England’s foremost national park, available land is hard to come by and that which is does not come cheap, is subject to strict planning controls, and does not always prove attractive to developers looking for larger housing schemes than one running to four plots.
It is why a modest project such as this remains such a “massive, massive” deal, said Don.
Three of the plots have been allocated to people who live and work in the parish, so there is one plot left, the final house of the scheme.”
The last house up for grabs is now open to applicants with a deadline of March 25 — a fortnight from today — to get their papers in.
Among the basic criteria is that you live in the Above Derwent parish with points awarded for growing up and going to school locally, and connections to the area, such as parents and siblings.
The shared ownership project involves people buying at least a 40 per cent share of the property’s £115,000 value, either in cash or via a mortgage, then a rental, and an annual service charge.
Of the first three homes, there were more than 30 initial expressions of interest.
It’s a project that could not have been done without the help of the land trust’s dedicated volunteer members, Don explains.
They bring a range of specialisms to the table —such as a project manager, an architect, finance and grants experts.
The scheme has involved assistance from Keswick Community Housing Trust and the Lake District National Park Authority, as well as support and grants from Allerdale Borough Council, Homes England and Community Right To Build.
For the information pack and to apply for the last property, email [email protected]
