Community-led Housing and Self-build - Training Courses
Courses and Events Offered by External Organisations
Many expert organisations also offer courses, some of which are subsidised or free of charge.
The following events or resources are organised and provided by external organisations, and further details can be found by following the links below. Dover District Council has no involvement in these events or resources.
My Community offer two great step by step guides for those interested in developing Community-Led Housing.
This is a guide for groups who are considering a particular community-led housing project and looking for practical advice on how to progress it. It can be used by new groups starting a project from scratch or by existing community groups branching out into community-led housing.
This is a guide for groups who have decided to develop a community-led housing project and are looking for practical advice on how to plan it. It can be used by newly established groups, or by existing community groups interested in branching out into the delivery of a community-led housing project.
Use it to help you with planning the detail of your project, but because all projects are different, the advice contained in this guide won’t be definitive. There will be times when you will need to seek further advice or make a judgment about something. That’s part and parcel of a community led housing project.
Self-Build Webinars Catch up
Watch past self-build webinars covering a range of topics at no cost. Webinars range from whether to renovate or rebuild, how to value a plot or demystifying planning. Click on the course title to view all webinars.
Past DDC courses and events
What is Community-led Housing?
DDC hosted a session going into detail about what Community-led Housing is, and how it can benefit local communities. The course went into detail about common legal structures, group vision and values and how to get a group consituted depending on the end goal. Attendees joining in-person and online were able to join workshops to help groups and individuals establish their motivation, vision and values.
The session was led by Debbie Wildridge and Maria Antoniou from Locality.
Past Community Housing Conferences
Each year Dover District Council, in conjunction with neighbouring east kent authorities, hosts an annual Community Housing Conference to provide specialist support and advice from leading national and local experts. Find out more about past community housing conferences below.
Get Inspired
Take a look at successful community-led housing schemes in action:
Giroscope are a self-help housing charitable company who rennovate empty properties to provide secure and affordable accomodation. They are also embarking on a self-build community-led housing project.
A variety of resources are available to view on their website.
'We Can Make' is a community land trust and a neighbourhood test-space in Bristol who unlock micro-sites for affordable community-led homes.
A variety of resources are available on the We Can Make website.
Bunker are a Self-Build Coperative who build high quality, sustaintainable homes for low income people.
A variety of resources are available on their website and their presentation from the Dover District Council Community-Led Housing Conference in 2022 is available to and download here.