Community-led housing: Exploring future policy pathways

Ireland faces increasing demand for affordable housing and affordable forms of living, write Jessica Hannon, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Officer, The Housing Agency, and Haley Curran, Policy Officer, The Housing Agency.

Recent new models of housing tenure, such as cost rental, have positively supported the development of sustainable communities. One alternative model which is experiencing a recent revival in Ireland and Europe is community-led housing.

Community-led housing, in a policy context, refers to housing initiatives where residents actively participate in the planning, design, and management of their homes.

This community centric approach enables people to collectively plan, organise, build, and manage housing for themselves, allowing residents to have a say in how their living environment is shaped. This can lead to a more affordable, sustainable housing model that is tailored to the specific needs of its community.

Community-led housing as a concept is not new, but it is innovative. A community-based approach to housing has existed in different models including co-operatives (some dating back to early 19th century Ireland), cohousing, and community land trusts.

Community land trusts are democratic, non-profit organisations that own and develop land for the benefit of the community. They can have long-term community benefit; land is held in a trust and thus removed from market speculation pressure. The concept and governance structure of community land trusts prioritises land stewardship as opposed to possession.

Ireland has a long history of housing cooperatives including Co-operative Housing Ireland and Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance, promoting cooperative principles. The development of legislation that has impacted land reform, planning and engagement has provided an important context for the progress of community land trusts and the promotion of alternative housing and land management in Ireland.

In 2020, the National Economic and Social Council published a report, Housing Policy: Actions to Deliver Change, in which it mentions community land trusts as a method to deliver housing on leased land and suggests community land trusts provide an approach worth exploring.

In 2021, Self-Organised Architecture CLG, a not-for-profit think tank, supported by The Housing Agency and The Land Development Agency developed a series of reports that aimed to “inform and support the establishment of a community-led housing infrastructure in Ireland”.

A key milestone for community-led housing and its supporters came when the Affordable Housing Act 2021 recognised community land trusts and housing co-operatives as potential providers of affordable housing. The Act specifically mentions the ability of local authorities to enter into arrangements with housing co-operatives and community land trusts, to provide homes.

In 2024, The Housing Agency started to explore the potential of community-led housing, and in 2025 delivered a four-part webinar series on this topic. The series aimed to raise awareness of the concept of community-led housing, showcase examples of successful projects in other countries and reflect on its future in Ireland.

Following the success of the webinar series, a report was compiled to share lessons, the mechanisms needed to deliver this form of housing, the impact this housing can provide, and the experiences of community-led housing groups in Ireland.

It concluded that community-led housing has significant potential to expand Ireland’s housing options by delivering sustainable and socially inclusive communities. Other findings include:

• Improved affordability

• collaborative housing and co-design can, and has, enabled affordable housing;
• creative measures help overcome challenges in delivering affordable land, through land lease mechanisms and adaptive re-use of existing buildings; and
• community land trusts can address affordability challenges by removing land speculation and maintain housing affordability in perpetuity.

• Need for community and state support

• low-interest, long-term finance is essential to unlocking community-led housing delivery;
• successful community-led housing projects in Europe have been delivered through co-design with residents involved from start to finish; and
• state supported ‘hubs’ can provide guidance and support to community-led housing groups at various stages.

• Pilot projects pave the way to success

• Cork Community Land Trust’s project is a step in the right direction in creating legal, technical, and financial frameworks for community land trusts in Ireland; and
• legislation and the appropriate operational and financial supports can be implemented to enable pilot projects with a view to scale the model.

• Wider social benefits

• community-led housing provides an innovative response to challenges including ageing populations, sustainable housing delivery, community development, and cohesion.

Ireland’s housing challenges are multi-faceted, and one alternative approach to our traditional housing model will not solve the current crisis. However, community-led housing has significant potential to expand Ireland’s current housing options. Community-led housing models offer benefits to society in their ability to encourage community involvement, social cohesion, and democratic decision-making.

As mentioned previously, the Affordable Housing Act 2021 mentions community-led housing as a potential provider of affordable housing.

A next step would be to develop a shared understanding or definition of what community-led housing can deliver in an Irish context.

The benefits of this form of housing have already come to fruition in Scotland, England, and Europe, and provides useful lessons in implementing this form of housing in Ireland.

Visit The Housing Agency’s community-led housing webinar: https://www.housingagency.ie/news/community-led-housing-webinar-series

Visit the follow up Community-Led Housing Webinar Series Report: https://www.housingagency.ie/publications/community-led-housing-webinar-report/