High Bickington Community Property Trust has secured a £2m loan from Triodos Bank to begin the first phase of a flagship Community Land Trust development of affordable housing, workspaces and a renewable energy plant.

The trust, which has around 200 members in the Devon village of High Bickington, identified affordable housing as a local priority and worked with partners, including the local parish and county councils, to develop proposals and secure planning permission for this community-owned project to be developed.

It is just one of 13 Community Land Trusts in the UK, with a further six in the process of being established. Triodos Bank has agreed funding for one of these and is in ongoing discussions with a number of the others.

Charles Middleton, Triodos Bank’s UK managing director, said: “This is a significant loan for Triodos and a flagship project within the scope of the new political landscape. It is a project we are delighted to be able to support, using our collective experience to get it off the ground. It has been a lengthy process getting to this stage, so all credit goes to HBCPT for its perseverance and proactive approach. We look forward to supporting more projects of this nature as the localism agenda really takes hold.”

The second phase of High Bickington’s project will see the development of a community building, playing fields and the building of infrastructure for a new primary school that will also have a multi-use games area.  In addition a site is being retained for a possible future health centre and a community woodland has already been planted and is being well used by the local community.  Future phases will see the building of market sale housing that will enable the repayment of loans and underpin the future financial viability of the affordable housing and community facilities being provided.