The kick-off meeting of the Upcycling Trust project in Lille marked a significant step in addressing the urgent challenge of the renovation and the decomodification* of housing.
Context
The housing crisis affecting many cities in the NWE region is calling for the production of more affordable housing. Building new housing is often in conflict with many cities' circular strategies, including the preservation of existing open space, and the reduction of building resources. The need for renovation of the housing stock to meet climate targets (energy neutrality by 2050) is both a challenge and an opportunity.
The model of Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and Organismes Fonciers Solidaires (OFS) offers an innovative and hybrid form of ownership suitable for such an approach. We observe a growing interest in this innovative approach among communities and authorities, and a significant potential for CLTs to accelerate a just urban transition.
Upcycling Trust project’s objectives
The objective of the Upcycling Trust project is to increase the number of forever affordable homes with a minimal environmental impact. Developing pilots and joining forces will enable CLTs and OFS in NWE to elaborate the most impactful strategies and incorporate them into urban public policy.
In order to achieve that, the partnership will:
Jointly develop and test legal, financial, technical and architectural solutions of the Upcycling model through 5 pilot operations.
Jointly design solutions for community involvement, multi stakeholder partnerships and governance.
Promote the roll out of this new approach on multiple levels as a tool for urban resilience.
Kick-off meeting in Lille
Last Wednesday and Thursday we were in Lille for the kickoff meeting. All the partners got to know each other and discovered two locations: the Petit Maroc district (one of the pilot projects) and the Cité Saint Maurice. This was followed by discussions on how to organize the partnership.
*Taking housing off the market so that it cannot be sold at a profit.