The People’s Property Portfolio is a community benefit society with a mission to regenerate both spirit and place in our cities, starting with Bradford.
We want to create real community spaces in a way that is unique, special, and authentic to Bradford.
Our goal is to secure a cluster of buildings through community ownership and use these buildings to develop social enterprise and support cultural activity.
With community-led property development, the economic value that is created is retained by and reinvested in our community.
Our vision is a city centre full of spaces that benefit our lives, where people can create, work, live and play well.
We believe the People’s Property Portfolio has the potential to be a powerful catalyst for change.
Why a community benefit society?
A Community Benefit Society is an alternative model for investing and developing buildings and land.
They reinvest surplus and regenerate it back into the community, rather than lining the pocket of landlords and shareholders.
They offer a democratic and accountable way to hold buildings and land.
What is a people’s land bank?
A cluster of community owned buildings can also be called a People’s Land Bank.
This is a direct solution to empty buildings and absentee landlords because they meet the needs of local people for work, joy, goods and services.
By holding more than one building, we can start to work cooperatively, providing opportunities for collaboration, business, culture and community space for all.
How do the stages of a project work?
Our ambition is to hold a cluster of buildings in Bradford City Centre and work in partnership with other landlords, such as Bradford Council and community led organisations.
This way we can start to challenge unconstructive behaviour by demonstrating and sharing best practice, and building a portfolio of buildings available for long periods of time at a sustainable cost.
We’ve created a six stage guide: a ‘how to’ for others who want to acquire and run buildings as part of this network, covering the typical stages in the community ownership journey.
Who do we partner with?
There are some really inspiring people out there who are doing brilliant work in the field of community-led development and wealth building.
We’ve collected some examples of projects and people who have helped to shape our thinking.
Sharing these resources is the kind of support that is really useful, so thank you to the Trailblazers.
Our Latest Project
About PPP
The People’s Property Portfolio was founded on the belief that places should and can work better for people.
Across the UK we see similar problems time and again: empty buildings, frustrated communities, and people being priced out of places that have grown in value because of what they have contributed to place and community..
Without owning the spaces they’re working in, most people and small businesses struggle to survive in the property market. But what if the community owned the buildings? What if we could benefit from the social, environmental and economic value created?
