Homesteading
What is Homesteading?
Homesteading is a term borrowed from the American mid-west pioneers who staked out plots of land to build their own home. In the UK the term has been applied to schemes where empty property is made available to people at a discounted cost conditional on them renovating the property. Homesteading was popular and successful in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, but fell into disuse as a result of increased property values and health and safety concerns for home renovators.
How does it work?
To many people, making empty property available to people in housing need is an obvious way of tackling two social ills, while at the same time creating community benefit. Unfortunately, experience has shown that achieving this through the social housing system is difficult and has been heavily dependent on high levels public subsidy.
Homesteading however is different:
- Instead of reliance on the social housing system, it seeks to allow people who would otherwise remain social tenants to become homeowners.
- Instead of large amounts of public subsidy, it makes a virtue out of the downturn in property price and allows people to invest their time and effort (sweat equity) enabling them to create their own homes out of abandoned property.
In most cases homesteading involves selling empty properties at below market price to people who otherwise would be unable to afford homeownership. It helps them with renovating the property sometimes with the help of a grant, sometimes with training. Conditions are normally applied to ensure that only people who intend to become part of the community buy the properties. Speculators are heavily discouraged. This means that areas with high levels of vacancy and high turnover of residents can be stabilised with new long-term occupants who have a strong investment in the community.
Homesteading has worked in previous recessions, but has been largely forgotten. It can work in this one; it just needs somebody to show how.
Case Studies
North Benwell – In 1998 Newcastle city council sold six houses to homesteaders for £1 each in the deprived North Benwell district. An area suffering acute demand problems and haemorrhaging population. The houses belonging to the council had been empty for years. The houses were sold to local families on the housing register who renovated them with the help of a small grant. Ten years on, three of the houses are still owned by original homesteaders the others having been sold to new families. The road now has no empty properties, in short it has become an ordinary residential street. Read more about North-Benwell
Holland – Leading Dutch architect Ineke Hulshof created a new community from a failed, empty estate in Holland.
Poetic Freedom Presentation by Ineke Hulshof
Poetic Freedom Short Film
