‘WE BUILD OUR OWN HOMES’: PRACTICES OF POWER AND PARTICIPATION IN A COMMUNITY LAND TRUST DEVELOPMENT A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of the West of England, Bristol, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Emma Griffin Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England, Bristol June 2018 ‘We build our own homes’: Practices of power and participation in a community land trust development ABSTRACT This thesis narrates the first three years of a 50 unit housing project carried out by Bristol Community Land Trust in partnership with a Housing Association. Working in close collaboration with prospective residents and to a lesser extent, other non- resident stakeholders involved in the project, this thesis provides insight into the participants’ aspirations and motivations for being involved. Additionally, it documents the challenges and obstacles Bristol Community Land Trust faced in trying to bring the project to fruition and reflects on the spaces made for prospective residents to meaningfully participate in the development process. This research is located within an urban English context, which is concerned with the shortage of affordable housing, and seeks to explore alternatives to increased individualisation and privatisation, arguably promoted in conventional models of housing delivery. This research is not only concerned with finding ways to deliver more affordable housing provisions, but is located in conversations on how communities can participate and collaborate in the development of these provisions. As a starting point, this research highlights the growing popularity of community land trusts and in particular, the increasingly common partnerships that are forming between community land trusts and Housing Associations. Whilst acknowledging that these partnerships are believed to be positive in enabling projects to move through the development process with greater ease (Moore, 2016), this research starts from a position of caution, asking what, if anything, is lost through collaborations between community and non-community organisations, and how prospective residents experience the development process under these partnerships. This research set out to examine whether Bristol Community Land Trust met prospective residents’ aspirations of community-led housing. A participatory approach was employed to encourage research participants to adopt more of a co- researcher role, and to call into question who are the experts and who can participate in producing knowledge. The research sought to contribute to the case study group as well as to academia. The methodological approach used in this research was supported by the use of theories of power and community power to frame the analysis of findings. The stories captured as part of this research are entwined with broader observations on the practices of bringing a community land trust project to fruition. This research captures how the nature and form of Bristol Community Land Trust led to struggles in enacting aspirations of community access and participation. Power played an important role in shaping the experiences of members from different stakeholder groups, whilst institutional and external pressures compounded issues of top-down governance. However, this research also points to ways that Bristol Community Land Trust stands to challenge who accesses community-led housing and to act as a driver of high-quality, shared equity and social rented housing, which is influenced by local community members and future residents, and is designed to foster high levels of social cohesion. ‘We build our own homes’: Practices of power and participation in a community land trust development ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis was only made possible by the support of others, who gave their time and energy to join me in this research. Thank you to members of Bristol Community Land Trust for sharing your stories, offering valuable insights, discussing ideas with me and granting me access to your lives for two and a half years. This generosity was instrumental in enabling me to present a rich story in this thesis. Thank you to my supervisors, Professor Katie Williams, Dr Michael Buser and Dr Danielle Sinnett for your constant guidance. I began this research with very little understanding of what to expect but through your collective support and patience I have learnt a great deal. To my wonderful friends who have shown me so much kindness over the last three years, listening to me talk about my research and keeping me smiling - thank you for you unwavering support. Particular thanks to Esme, Merry, Josie, Kat, Nick, Anna, Emma, Fluffeee, Jess and Annie for the cups of tea, walks, and lots of laughter. Thanks to Kaleb, for putting up with my early morning writing sessions and offering such insight and clarity of thinking. Finally, thanks to my parents, for your unfaltering belief in me, and genuine interest even when you did not totally understand what I was I was doing. Thank you to my Mum, for our mini trips away and for looking after me, and my Dad, for your advice and input, and the hours spent listening to me talk about this research. CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... 4 CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... 2 ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................................... 3 PROLOGUE ............................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH ...................................................... 7 1.1) SITUATING AND FRAMING THE RESEARCH .............................................................. 15 1.2) POWER AS A THEORETICAL LENS .......................................................................... 26 1.3) RESEARCH APPROACH ......................................................................................... 29 1.3.1) PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH ............................................................................... 29 1.4) CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................ 31 1.5) INTRODUCTORY DESCRIPTION OF KEY STAKEHOLDERS FROM INTENSIVE STAGE ........ 32 1.6) STRUCTURE OF THESIS ........................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 40 2.1) INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 40 2.2) ARRIVING AT A METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 40 ‘We build our own homes’: Practices of power and participation in a community land trust development 2.2.1) PHILOSOPHICAL POSITION .................................................................................. 40 2.2.2) EXPLORING PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES TO RESEARCHING WITH COMMUNITIES ... 44 2.2.3) DECIDING ON A PARTICIPATORY APPROACH ......................................................... 48 2.2.4) EMPLOYING A PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACH .......................................... 50 2.2.5) CASE STUDY RESEARCH .................................................................................... 53 2.2.6) THE SINGLE CASE ............................................................................................. 56 2.3) THE EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE STAGES ................................................................ 57 2.4) RESEARCHER-PARTICIPANT; ESTABLISHING A ROLE IN BRISTOL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST ....................................................................................................................... 61 2.5) METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ..................................................... 62 2.5.1) COLLABORATIVE WORKSHOPS ............................................................................ 65 2.5.2) PARTICIPATORY VIDEO ...................................................................................... 71 2.5.3) CONVERSATIONAL INTERVIEWS .......................................................................... 74 2.5.4) RESEARCHER DIARY .......................................................................................... 76 2.5.5) OBSERVATIONS ................................................................................................ 76 2.5.6) GOVERNING DOCUMENTS .................................................................................. 80 2.6) RESEARCH TIMELINE ............................................................................................ 82 2.7) DATA ANALYSIS: COLLABORATIVE AND INDIVIDUAL MEANING MAKING PROCESSES .... 85 2.8) PARTICIPATORY ETHICS ....................................................................................... 87 CHAPTER 3: AN INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCHING COMMUNITY-LED HOUSING AND COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS IN ENGLAND ............................... 92 3.1) INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................