Alt+Land

Group Members: Amber Godfrey, Andra Pop-Jurj, AnYu Chan, Clementine Holden, Han Ning Loh, Kate Frew, Lara Bryan

ALT+LAND proposes an intervention to existing agricultural land development models to offer a dynamic housing solution whilst promoting soil health and sustainable farming practice.

The Problem

Farmers currently face pressure to be competitive, leading to the use of artificial soil treatments such as pesticides and nitrates to minimise soil recovery periods and therefore temporarily maximise yields. We are already seeing long-term damage to soil quality and fertility which could severely jeopardise the future of the UK’s agricultural industry as well as causing knock-on environmental damage such as flooding, pollution and loss of biodiversity.

At the same time, we are facing a national housing crisis: since the 1980s, public bodies have all but abandoned large scale housing construction projects and the private sector has struggled to pick up the slack, largely due to strict planning policy. Even when landowners do obtain planning permission there is an emerging pattern of ‘land-banking’ where land is held until it reaches its peak value.

According to a study by the Resolution Foundation undertaken in 2019, there were just 825 homes per 1,000 families — the lowest number since records began in 1991. This surplus demand is inflating house prices so that getting a foot on the housing ladder is becoming an impossibility for many first time buyers who must instead turn to rental properties which consume a significant proportion of income.

ALT + LAND Proposal

ALT + LAND proposes the use of empty agricultural fallow fields to host light weight, non-invasive residential units which migrate around the land with each soil regeneration cycle. These residential units could generate enough additional value for the farmers to allow longer fallow periods and reduce the use of chemical treatments, enabling natural and sustainable soil recovery and, at the same time, providing a much-needed, alternative form of affordable home ownership.

A co-operative shareholder model offers an optimum scenario to allow for collective and dynamic land ownership rather than conventional static ownership or landlord-tenant models: residents have the rights to use a primary residence, but instead of owning their unit or plot outright, each resident is a shareholder in the co-operative. This facilitates the rotation of residential units, allows residents to see a financial return when they sell their share, enables flexibility in occupancy arrangements, encourages a holistic view of the land and incentivises all members to collaborate in increasing share values, promoting a sense of community.

Articles:

Amber Godfrey on Alt+Land Peripheral Stakeholders

Andra Pop-Jurj on Who Owns What Since When Matters Now More Than Ever

AnYu Chan on ALT+LAND: Primary “Human” and “Non- Human” Stakeholders

Clementine Holden on The Symbiosis of Agricultural and Residential Land Use

Han Ning Loh on Changes in Living Under the Alt+Land Model

Kate Frew on The Forgotten Value of Rest

Lara Bryan on Semi-Nomadic Homes