Community Land Trust

Hills Avenue Development

UPDATE JANUARY 2025

We are delighted to announce that Joy’s Corner, our first modular homes scheme, has been completed and our first resident moved in just before Christmas. You can take a quick tour of one of the homes here.

Chris Jenkin BEM, Founder and Chair of It Takes A City, said: “We are proud to have led such an amazing team of partners to deliver this innovative project, making great use of a very small site. Our thanks to them all, and to our donors and investors who made it possible. This is a small part of a much larger effort to work together to end homelessness and rough sleeping in Cambridge. We look forward to our residents being welcomed into the community with a sure sense they have somewhere they can call home. Plans are now being laid for further schemes in and around Cambridge, and we encourage anyone that is keen to help to get in contact!”

About Us

Photo of modular homes that were sited in another location.

Our Vision

To ensure that everyone that is homeless has somewhere to call home.

Mission

Create micro-communities of small homes, with flexible support that ensures residents thrive, not just survive.

What we do

Initially, we are focused on the use of temporary land, not yet in use for housing, to develop small schemes using off-site built relocatable modular homes. Homes are small, fully equipped and self-contained, easy to run, hi-tech and environmentally friendly with a minimum 60-year lifetime.

Once established, we expect to develop schemes on permanent land, either owned / long-term leased, or hybrid schemes alongside traditional social housing in partnership with a developer.

Our first site will feature four modular homes, located on a site owned by Cambridge City Council and built by New Meaning Foundation. We are exploring further sites with other major landowners. Funding comes from donations, grants and social investors who can receive a modest return on their investment.

Who we are

ITAC CLT was incorporated by It Takes a City in July 2020 as an exempt charity registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 as a Community Benefit Society. Registration number 8427. Registered Address: 78 Hinton Way, Great Shelford, Cambridge, CB22 5AL. Recognised as a Charity by HMRC, no. ZD11353.

The current Directors/Trustees are Chris Jenkin (Chair), Rebecca Howard, Martin Clark, Bob Ensch, and David Glover.

New Meaning Foundation staff in warehouse making modular homes

Members

ITAC CLT is a membership organisation, with the Board elected from among the membership at the Annual General Meeting. Members are also our advocates and supporters, acting in the best interests of the CLT at all times, connecting us with communities, partners, influencers and funders.

We’d like you to sign up and join – it only costs £1. Your £1 could help a rough sleeper have somewhere to call home.

Please see our Membership Policy for more details and the Application Form which you can complete.

Email us at membership@itacclt.org.uk for more details.

We are seeking Members from across the community.

New Meaning Foundation staff using crane to load modular home onto low loader

Finance

We are financed by the generosity and kindness of local people in the form of:

Grants, from local charities and trusts
Donations, which can be gift-aided. Please use our Gift Aid form
Shares, that are issued from time to time to fund specific schemes and cost £1 each. The first £1 invested purchases a Membership Share and the investor will become a Member of the CLT.
Loans

Please contact us if you would like to know more.

Finance typically covers:

General business costs – £5,000 to £10,000 per annum
Site infrastructure and utilities – £100,000 to £150,000
Modular homes – c. £60,000 each
Equipping the homes – c.3,000 each

John and Nick from New Meaning Foundation outside some modular homes that were built for another site

Partners

ITAC CLT is a community effort, buoyed by support not just from donors and investors but by the professional support of trade partners, many of whom give their expertise at no cost.

We especially thank LandAid, the national property charity, for their help in this:

Planning/Design: Carter Jonas, MKA Ecology, Ligna Consultancy, Archangel Architects

Engineering/Construction: Stantec, Munro, Breheny

Project Management: Bidwells, CB3

Homes: New Meaning Foundation, Allia Impact.

Marketing and fund raising: It Takes a City

Legal: HCR Hewitsons

Please contact us if you can offer any help.

Keeping In Touch

We aim to publish a regular newsletter giving details of schemes as they progress, funding needs, other developments, etc. in addition to announcements via the local media and social networks. Please contact us if you would like to know more details.