Westbourne Community Trust

24/11/2025

🔑 Holding the key to secure homes!
It was a special morning celebrating the success of the Westbourne Community Land Trust, who welcomed twelve local families into their new homes last week.
The homes were offered to families with a local connection to Westbourne, offered at a social rent, which will remain in perpetuity.
This has been a huge project for the Westbourne CLT, who have overcome so many barriers to finally deliver these lovely homes, creating a blueprint for other CLTs in the local area to hopefully deliver similar schemes.

I met with the Housing Minister earlier this year to ask him to make it easier for CLTs to deliver affordable and social housing in their area by making the process less bureaucratic!

A big well to all those involved, especially the trustees, who never gave up and have made twelve families very happy in Westbourne!

24/11/2025

24/05/2025

Applications for our 12 new homes are now open. To apply head over to our website. Applications will not be assessed until after the closing date on 22nd June.
To be eligible for the scheme you must have a local connection to the parish of Westbourne.

We are delighted to confirm that the application process for homes at Mill Road is now open. The Process:   The application process will remain open until the 22nd June.     Please take your time to complete the form correctly

28/10/2024

Great to have this shout out in Parliament from our MP. Huge Thanks Jess Brown-Fuller

28/10/2024

22/10/2024

📣 Latest news 📣

Work has started on a ground-breaking project to deliver 12 new affordable homes for local people in Westbourne.

Construction of the new properties, which will consist of six one-bed homes; four two-bed homes; and two three-bed homes, began earlier this month in Mill Road, Westbourne, and was celebrated by project partners at an event to mark the milestone on Friday 18 October.

You can read the full article here: https://orlo.uk/construction_of_new_community_led_affordable_housing_begins_westbourne_59UTX

21/10/2024

Breaking ground with Westbourne Community Land Trust!
A huge congratulations to Frank and the team of trustees at Westbourne Community Land Trust who, after six years of hard work and determination, have broken ground on their development of affordable homes for local people in Westbourne.
I look forward to seeing the project progress and supporting CLTs across the constituency, delivering homes at affordable rents for local people! Chichester District Council

19/10/2024

Great to welcome our MP Jess Brown Fuller and Clare Appel, Chairman of Chichester District Council to yesterday’s event marking the start of our affordable housing scheme for local people in Mill Road.

27/09/2024

After years of work by local volunteers WCT's first scheme is finally underway. The 12 new homes at Mill Road will be for local people who cannot afford to rent or buy on the open market. The scheme is expected to be completed in October 2025.

The following text is from our Press Release which will go out on 30th September.

All of these homes will be 2 storeys, with 6 x 1 bed, 4 x 2 bed and 2 x 3 bed properties. Those who are interested in registering for the accommodation should visit the Trust’s website at https://www.westbournecommunitytrust.org where they can become a member of the Trust and then register their interest for one of the properties.

This project at Mill Road, Westbourne is the result of 6 years of hard work by a dedicated group of local volunteers who wanted to tackle the affordable housing problem that affects Westbourne and many similar villages in the South of England.

Frank Campbell, Chair of Westbourne Community Trust, said:

“Young people who cannot afford housing locally often have no choice but to leave their home village to find cheaper accommodation, or they continue to live with their parents as young adults or to “sofa surf” with friends. This causes lots of social and financial problems and in the long term it affects the sustainability of the local community and the local economy.”

“This project is a great example of how consultation with the community can deliver much needed affordable housing as well as a range of additional benefits to improve the quality of life in the community.”

“The new houses will be retained permanently for social rent and will not be subject to “right to buy”. This will ensure that they will continue to be available for local people for many generations.”

Since the Trust was formed in 2018 the following has been achieved:

• A site was identified and consultation with the local community was undertaken
• A scheme was designed by Chichester Architects MHA
• The ownership of the land was transferred by Chichester District Council to the Trust
• Planning permission was obtained for the development
• Grant funding was secured from a wide range of organisations including
o Homes England
o Chichester District Council
o South Downs National Park Authority
o Westbourne Parish Council
• A loan has been secured from a local charity, St Mary’s Hospital Chichester
• A contractor has been appointed to construct the houses

Work has commenced on site preparation and work on the construction of the houses will start in the week commencing 30 September 2024.

Westbourne Parish Council is a key partner for this project and its Chair, Nigel Ricketts said:

“Westbourne has an urgent need for more affordable housing, particularly for one and two bedroom properties as shown by a recent housing needs survey. There are many other benefits as the Trust will be making significant investments in new recreation and playground facilities for local children and their families as well as improving parking in Mill Road for existing residents”

The scheme has been subject to full consultation with the local community and many additional community benefits have been incorporated through this consultation. For example:

• The local park in which the site is located will be improved with landscaping and new play equipment to replace the existing outdated equipment
• A new storage building will be provided for the adjoining Allotment Association and the Parish Council.
• A new gated access will be provided into the park from the local primary school and a jogging track will be created to allow the school to undertake its “measured mile” runs to improve the health and fitness of its pupils.
• New residents’ parking space will be provided in Mill Road to ease congestion and deal with a lack of off-street parking.
• All construction traffic will enter and leave the site on a temporary access road that has been generously agreed by an adjoining landowner, which avoids construction traffic being routed through the village.
• A rewilding and tree planting scheme will be undertaken on a farm within the village to offset the nitrate emissions that the development will generate.
• A range of nature conservation measures are incorporated into the design of the houses and the relandscaping of the park to encourage biodiversity.

More information about the scheme and about Westbourne Community Trust can be found at this link: https://www.westbournecommunitytrust.org

18/09/2024

Westbourne Community Trust has started work to build 12 new affordable homes on land near Mill Road. Before the completion and occupation of the new houses, they will also carry out work to improve the park and provide new play equipment.

A temporary access road has been created in the field to the north of the allotments leading from Foxbury Lane to prevent construction vehicles from using Mill Road.

The games court and grassed area of the recreation ground will remain open until the end of the year so that residents can continue to use these facilities, and a temporary access gate has been made.

The play equipment and skate park has been removed to allow the project to start. The Trust is continuing to prepare the final details of these improvements, which are expected to start in early 2025 and will see a large investment in the facilities that are available for local children and families. The public car park is still open.

Early in the programme of work, alterations will be made to Mill Road to provide additional off-street parking spaces for the benefit of local residents.

You can find out more about the project at

A non-profit organisation run by volunteers that looks after buildings and community facilities for the benefit of all local people.

17/09/2024

Building progress at new affordable homes at Easebourne.