Give someone you love a little bit of Hastings this Christmas

Are you stumped by Christmas? No idea what to give anyone? Fed up with over-consumption and angry about the crazy cost of accommodation (Hastings’ propery prices rose by 12% in 2016)? Then think about giving a little bit of heart this Christmas by buying your loved one a share in the Heart of Hastings Community Land Trust. HOT’s Erica Smith is proud to be an early adopting shareholder.

I always remember 9 December because I’m a woman of a certain age and it is Donny Osmond’s birthday. But this 9 December was the birthday of something even more exciting. The Heart of Hastings Community Land Trust launched a dual way to ‘share and shape the future of Hastings’. The Community Land Trust (CLT) had its first planning meeting earlier this year in the cellar room at Rustico. I know because I met some of the Trustees there – Jess Steele, Suzy Tinker and Rodney Buse (the other two are Tania Charman and Maria Ludkin). Since then, the CLT has slowly developed into a reality – something that so far has been most visible in connection to its work at the old Power Station site at Ore Valley. The plans are to build affordable housing here using a ‘bottom up development’ model – so local people get the opportunity to learn skills and fully engage in the building process.

“This place has so much potential. I want it to be developed so it makes life richer for the community, not just to make the developers richer.”
Tania Charman, Director of Heart of Hastings CLT

The other current project is to buy properties in the White Rock area, renovate them and keep them as affordable housing. This was the primary focus of the 9 December meeting. People with between £5,000 to £50,000 were asked to invest (at a reasonable rate of return) to help buy the first property in the area.

If you are a ‘Just About Managing’ person on an average Hastings income, then you probably won’t have that kind of money to invest, but you can still support the CLT by buying shares for £25 each. In the current political and economic climate, it’s easy to feel powerless, and this is a way to put your money where your mouth is by supporting a way to ring-fence accommodation before local rents become impossible for ordinary folk to afford.

The share offer was inspired by the Pier share offer. It means that for a relatively small investment, nearly everyone can afford to show their support for the Community Land Trust. You can also buy shares as a unique gift for friends who love Hastings! Everyone who has a share has the same right to vote as others with multiple shares.

To find out more about the share offers, visit the Heart of Hastings website. To buy a share in the town you love, for yourself, or for someone you love, click here!