Thought leader piece from Creative Land Trust

After decades as the Cinderella sector, the time for affordable creative workspace has come.  The UK, a global cultural powerhouse, has been driving artists and makers away by making their places of work unaffordable. But Creative Land Trust has begun turning this around, and housing providers can be the beneficiaries.

 

It’s not often that one solution solves so many of the challenges faced by developers and social housing providers. Want to create a distinctive sense of place in a new location?  To enable residents to go to work within metres of their homes? To increase the sense of security by activating neighbourhoods beyond the nine-to-five?  To enable education, lifelong learning and culture led regeneration for communities?  To all but guarantee 95%+ occupancy in ground floor commercial spaces?

 

Housing providers have long been hesitant about bringing artists and makers into resi developments – where some see creativity, others see chaos.  But the advent of Creative Land Trust means there is now a way to gain the benefits without facing risk.  A charity supported by Arts Council England, the Mayor of London and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Creative Land Trust acts like a National Trust for creative workspace, acquiring it for the long term and assuming the risks of occupation.

 

There turns out to be another benefit too. Creative Land Trust, with partners including Get Living, commissioned Hawkins\Brown, Dataloft and Ramidus to analyse the impact that incorporating artists’ workspace has on the prices (sale and rental) achieved for residential space in developments.  

 

The results were dramatic, and not unlike the value uplifts delivered by proximity to green space.  4.4% annual uplifts in London over a ten year period, and 3.3% in Kent and Essex over five years – it turns out that making space for art is a very sensible strategy for housing providers looking to make better places and increase financial returns.

 

You can hear more from Creative Land Trust at Housing 2023 on the Future of Living theatre closing keynote.