The Local Church Partnership
A bespoke local charity bringing together the host church, investors, developers and ultimately operators. They are the anchor and the core — and the guarantee of local impact.
The integrated programme
Three gears that interlock to deliver homes — and community.
The integrated programme is badged as "Housing Communities." Three elements, each with different accountabilities and responsibilities, acting in co-ordination to deliver the agreed goals and outputs.
The three elements
Each is required. Each is different. They interlock.
The programme has three elements. The local church partnership is the core. The housing provider holds and manages the homes. The breakthrough champion seeds and supports the work upfront.
Church Community Housing Association
The Housing Provider — a registered provider that takes in government support grants, holds the long-term mortgages, directs and controls the construction process, and manages the homes after completion.
Church Investment and Housing Trust
The Breakthrough Champion. CIHT promotes the scheme, invests and attracts further investment funds, creates and supports each local charity, and leads the risk stage of architectural and financial design through to planning approval.
The model in practice
Technical expertise to build, deep care for the community we build with.
Our model ensures we have the technical expertise to build and manage affordable homes and community facilities. Partnership with the local church is at the heart of all our projects, as we work to revitalise local facilities and congregations.
However, we want to go beyond just providing places for people to live and gather. To truly make an impact in the local community, we work in partnership with other like-minded organisations with specific expertise — so that we can provide ongoing support and care to those living in our homes, many of whom will be the most vulnerable in society.
How we partner
An established partnership protocol.
We do this by working in partnership. Our partnership protocol sets out clear expectations on both sides so the local church, the local authority, the operators and our team can move quickly — together.
Locally rooted, locally led
Every scheme is anchored by a local charity. Locally owned governance means the project belongs to the people it serves.
Like-minded partners
We bring in operators with the right expertise — childcare, social supermarkets, mental-health support — to provide ongoing care alongside the homes.
Integrated delivery
All three elements move in concert. Funding, delivery, and the local charity each do their part so the scheme stays affordable, useful and durable.
See it built
From model to schemes — on the ground.
Kingsley Hall in Dagenham is open, working and full. Wave 1 commits £72m across four London boroughs by 2028.
Browse Wave 1 projects
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Quarterly updates on schemes, partner churches and lessons from the build.