The Hastings Commons ecosystem
Hastings Commons is an ecosystem of like-minded charities, community organisations and social entrepreneurs who work together to tackle urban decay and to implement regeneration from the ‘bottom up’ through sustained community engagement. Hastings Commons is both a place and a concept.
Commoners (the community of tenants, team and trustees) support the ‘common ground resources’ (the buildings) through ‘commoning' – stepping up to take action together. This is a pioneering approach to community-led regeneration, DIY style.
What we now call Hastings Commons has come about organically over the past 10 years. From October 2021, the trustees and directors of the core organisations – Heart of Hastings CLT, White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures, Leisure & Learning, and Project Art Works – began to meet monthly as a ‘superboard’. Jess Steele then took on the role of CEO and the ecosystem was simplified with ‘Hastings Commons’ as the overarching brand.
You can see the Community Engagement in White Rock 2006-23 report for an overview of the sustained engagement over many years."
Key Organisations
Hastings Commons Community Land Trust is owned by our members and led by the community around us. It is the democracy and engagement part of Hastings Commons, working to build a strong organisation ready for the long-term responsibility of holding community assets in perpetuity. Previously known as Heart of Hastings Community Land Trust, it is committed to providing affordable spaces with security of tenure, forever.
Hastings Commons Neighbourhood Ventures is a locally rooted social enterprise developer.
Previously known as White Rock Neighbourhood Ventures, it is the part of Hastings Commons that transforms difficult and derelict buildings into capped-rent homes and workspaces. With a focus on acquisition, financing, renovations, leasing, business management, tenant support and commercial operations, it is one third owned by Hastings Commons Community Land Trust.
Hastings Commons isn’t just about the buildings. It’s about creating positive ways for people to live and work that enable them to thrive. We design and develop our indoor and outdoor spaces to work hard for the people using them to achieve the highest possible social impact.
Hastings Commons Leisure and Learning is a charity established in 2019 to activate and animate spaces in the Hastings Commons with programmes designed for public benefit, including community capacity building, inclusive leisure, wellbeing and education.
Living Rents are the housing company for Hastings Commons, offering stable rents based on 1/3 of median local income rising only with inflation. Living Rents is currently becoming a Registered Provider (a mini housing association).
Each of the entities within Hastings Commons have independent boards that have ultimate authority. There is deliberately some overlap between Directors/Trustees of each entity to support working in partnership and the Directors/Trustees of each entity meet together at least four times a year. Each entity has at least 2 directors that do not serve on the board of any other entity to maintain independence. The boards of each entity meet independently wherever a potential conflict of interest arises, and at least once a year regardless to review and sign off the annual report and accounts.
HCCLT Trustees are all independent and drawn from and voted for by its 700+ members.
There are two key agreements which underpin the ecosystem’s governance:
Memorandum of Understanding which is regularly reviewed and requires all Hastings Commons entities to independently agree on:
- Objectives and strategic goals. These must all be aligned with the charitable objects of the CLT and reflected in the formal constitution (articles and rules) of each entity.
- Key policies and procedures which must be adopted across all Hastings Commons entities. This includes a requirement to maintain independence (with at least 2 independent trustees/ directors from any other entity), and to ensure all financial arrangements between entities are under separate, approved agreements conducted at “arm’s length” and which comply with all procurement policies and relevant regulations.
HCNV shareholders’ agreement (made between the CLT and the two founder shareholders in the company, Jericho Road Solutions Limited and Meanwhile Space CIC):
- In addition to HCNV’s articles, this further binds HCNV to work towards the same purpose and objectives as the CLT.
- Ensures the CLT has at least one board seat on HCNV as well as a right of veto on any suggested changes to HCNV’s articles or the shareholders' agreement itself.
- Sets out the process and price by which the CLT can acquire full ownership of HCNV as a sustainable and relatively low-risk asset for the CLT over the long term.
We aim to be as transparent as possible about our governance and financial arrangements and are constantly seeking new ways to explain how we are experimenting in an attempt to change the world. It is important to recognise that we are deliberately trying to be different, not to repeat the long years of traditional philanthropy, grant-dependency and top-down regeneration which have failed communities like Hastings and St Leonards. Many of our funders specifically support us because of that. For example, we were directly approached by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to join their ‘Pathfinders’ group because of our “active experimentation with alternative governance models and financial instruments beyond grant funding”.
| Entity | Type & regulator | Ownership | Link to download publicly available information (accounts, articles of association, director & trustee information). |
| Hastings Commons CLT (CLT) | Charitable Community Benefit Society (type of co-operative for community and public benefit). Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. | 570+ members of the CLT | CLT |
| Hastings Commons Neighbourhood Ventures (HCNV) | Limited company. Regulated by Companies House. | 1/3 CLT 1/3 Jericho Road Solutions Ltd 1/3 Meanwhile Space CIC |
HCNV CLT Meanwhile Space CIC Jericho Road Solutions Ltd |
| Living Rents Hastings Ltd (Living Rents) | Limited company. Regulated by Companies House. | 100% HCNV | Living Rents |
| Leisure & Learning (L&L) | Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee. Regulated by the Charity Commission & Companies House. | Independent charity | L&L |
About us, our structure & governance
Since 2014, Hastings Commons has brought over 8,000 square metres of floor space into custodian ownership across a whole cluster of difficult and derelict buildings in the centre of Hastings, renovating them to a high quality, offering genuinely affordable rents, and supporting residents and businesses to collaborate and take more control of where they live and work.
But the vision is much bigger than owning and managing buildings. It’s really about the people in the buildings, how they live, work and play together. It serves as a beacon marking a different approach to development, for the community, by the community.
Find out more about what Hastings Commons does and our story
All our spaces and homes are applied for using an application form that emphasises clear and consistent criteria:
- Genuine need for an affordable space or home
- Local connection to the town
- Enthusiasm for and contribution to the Hastings Commons mission
Spaces and homes are advertised on social media, through HBC Housing, ESCC Adult Social Care, Hastings Independent Press and through other partners. The application process includes visit & viewing, an application form based on the criteria above – and for homes all shortlisted applicants are invited to a group workshop. A final assessment decision is made by a panel of key staff plus 2 members of the Hastings Commons board and 2 existing tenants.
Allocation of the 12 new homes being developed in the Observer Building with support from the Town Living Fund (see further FAQ below for details on this award) will start with nominations from Hastings Borough Council before going through our standard application process. At least eight of the flats will go to people moving out of temporary accommodation.
Project workers, creatives and micro-entrepreneurs are often excluded from private renting and workspaces because they lack regular payslips. We don’t ask for wage-slips or guarantors; we look for contribution to the commons.
We track local prices for homes and workspaces and set our initial prices back in 2015 with a commitment to raise these only in line with inflation and not the market.
Housing in White Rock is c76% private rented (Hastings 29%, England 20%). Market rents in White Rock in 2015 were equivalent to 1/3 of median local income. That was what we set out to protect for the long term. Our initial rents are set at ‘Living Rents 33’ – i.e. 33% of median local income – and then capped so that they only rise with inflation. Our rents crossed below ‘affordable’ (i.e. 80% of market) in 2021, now they are over £200pcm cheaper than the market trendline.
There are lots of different ways you can get involved in Hastings Commons: our community of commoners are central to the vision. Become a tenant, hire a space, become a member of the Community Land Trust or volunteer to support our work. Recruitment for volunteers, trustees and staff is advertised on our Getting Involved page.
Financial information, management & oversight
At the moment we manage 11 rent-capped buildings, 50+ workspaces and have over 120 tenants.
Most of the properties (Rock House, Observer Building, Eagle House, Harper’s Caves) are owned by Hastings Commons Neighbourhood Ventures Ltd. This is a company with three equal shareholders - Jericho Road Solutions (JRS), Meanwhile Space CIC (MWS), and Hastings Commons Community Land Trust (the CLT).
Hastings Commons Community Land Trust owns the freehold of 39 Cambridge Road and holds a 125 year lease on 12 Claremont from East Sussex County Council.
Rose Cottage is owned freehold by Jericho Road Solutions but is managed as part of the Hastings Commons, using the same tenant selection criteria for the two artists’ studios. The classroom at Rose Cottage is leased by Leisure & Learning who hire it out for use by local groups.
Including private funds and loans, as well as capital grants received, the total investment in our buildings since 2014 totals £12.74 million. The current value of those assets based on our draft accounts for 31 March 2024 is £6.91m, a deficit of £5.84m. This is nearly all a result of the Observer Building, owned by HCNV.
The current value of the Observer Building is based on independent valuations by professional valuers. The process they go through helps determine the value based on current market conditions, and current uses. It is not unusual to have significant deficits on revaluation for proprieties like the Observer Building.
- The purpose of HCNV and of the grant funding and private investment and has never been to maximise market value, but instead to maximise long-term community value. This often reduces the value of an asset on the open market. The result is to reduce the overall asset value in HCNV and therefore the share price ahead of the purchase of shares by the CLT from the founder investors. You can find out more about HCNV shareholders’ agreement and share transfer here.
- Difficult, derelict, heritage buildings like the Observer Building often take significantly more investment than they create in financial market value - referred to as a ‘heritage deficit’. For example, repairing the façade to its original glory was very important to us and to our funders, but does little to add market value.
- Hastings Commons bought the Observer Building in 2021 without the funds in place to restore and redevelop it. It has taken time to secure the necessary funds, often awarded with challenging conditions and timescales, meaning we have had to stop and start development at various stages. Combined with the cost of living crisis, interest rate rises, energy crisis, COVID and Brexit over this period the final costs of development have been much higher than if we had all the funding in place from the start. However, we believe that taking the risk to purchase the Observer Building when we had the opportunity was essential to meet our long-term, ambitious goals.
It is also important to note that we are still part way through full renovation of the Observer Building, 12 Claremont and Eagle House. Valuing properties that are not yet complete is difficult and can often result in valuations that do not reflect the likely final value of the building. When all renovations are complete, we will commission a new set of full, independent valuations.
See here for a detaiIed breakdown of our investment into each building and its current valuation
The members of the Hastings Commons board must strive to avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of Hastings Commons as a whole on the one hand, and any personal, professional, and business interests on the other. This includes avoiding actual significant conflicts of interest as well as managing the perception of conflicts of interest.
It is important to note that multiple overlapping interests have been key to the creation of Hastings Commons to date. So-called ‘conflicts’ need not be problematic, but must be acknowledged, carefully managed and published in each entity’s annual accounts.
A Memorandum of Understanding sets out the role of each collaborating organisation, how potential conflicts of interests are managed, and the approach to transactions between Hastings Commons entities.
The accounts of every Hastings Commons entity are either audited or independently reviewed by external accountants every year, with accounts made publicly available.
We also publish our annual report every year; which includes financial, governance and impact information. For the latest one, see here.
Twice a year we hold open, public Q&A sessions with the answers to key questions posted on our FAQs page.
We hold an Annual General Meeting for the members of the CLT to review and approve accounts, go through the annual report, vote for CLT trustees and answer any questions that members may have.
For all the grant funds we receive we must abide by the strict terms and conditions of each grant. For nearly all grants this includes:
- Detailed due diligence carried out by the funder prior to making an award on our governance, financial policies and procedures, financial history and forecasts, and impact.
- Evidence of spend in accordance with the grant agreement and purpose, including providing both invoices and evidence of payment.
- Evidence of outputs and outcomes in accordance with the grant agreement and purpose.
The published accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 for each entity can be found in the table below alongside the independent accountants that carry out annual audits and independent reviews. Just click on the name to download the links direct from the government's Companies House website (for HCNV, Living Rents and Leisure & Learning) or from the Financial Conduct Authority (for the CLT).
The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 are still being audited or independently reviewed. We expect to update with links to the 31 March 2024 accounts before 31 December 2024.
| Entity | Auditors / independent reviewers |
| Hastings Commons CLT Ltd (HCCLT) | Third Sector Accountancy Limited |
| Hastings Commons Neighbourhood Ventures Ltd (HCNV) | Crowe U.K. LLP |
| Living Rents (Hastings) Ltd | Crowe U.K. LLP |
| Leisure & Learning (Hastings) Ltd | Acuity Professional Partnership LLP |
Hastings Commons CLT Ltd (CLT) and Leisure & Learning Limited (L&L) are charities operated purely for public benefit.
The social enterprise property development company Hastings Commons Neighbourhood Ventures Ltd (HCNV) is a limited company and its articles ensure that the work of HCNV is aligned with the charitable objectives of the CLT with an ‘asset lock’ to ensure funds are used for those purposes. Living Rents is 100% owned by HCNV and so bound by those same terms.
HCNV was established in 2014 by Meanwhile Space CIC and Jericho Road Solutions Ltd, two socially-driven entrepreneurs. They immediately granted 10% of the shares in the company to local community organisation White Rock Trust. After WRT collapsed in 2016-17, our funder Power to Change supported a transition of the shares to Heart of Hastings CLT (which is now Hastings Commons CLT Ltd) and equalised the shareholding with investment into Rock House so each partner held 1/3 of the company.
The plan has always been that the risk-taking organisation (HCNV) will eventually reach ‘steady state’ where the buildings are earning enough to sustain themselves and at that point the CLT would buy all the shares from the founder investors so bringing the company and all its assets into 100% ownership by the CLT.
This is a deliberately new approach to achieving neighbourhood change for community benefit and is part of why Hastings Commons has been successful because it has allowed us to take risks that few charitable organisations would have taken alone. For example, just prior to signing the shareholder’s agreement and equalising the shareholdings with the CLT the founder investors had built up significant value of more than £1.6m through the development of Rock House. They decided to mortgage Rock House to fund the purchase of the Observer Building, putting that value at risk in furtherance of the mission and purpose of HCNV.
A specific formula in the HCNV Shareholders’ Agreement determines the timing, conditions and price at which the CLT would purchase the shares from the two founding investors and ensures:
- The price is based on assets that are valued in accordance with the social mission i.e. not on private market value, but on assumption the use is for community purpose and to provide affordable and capped rent residential and workspace.
- The contribution of charitable grant funding to any increase in asset values is taken off the price
- Any liabilities or debts of HCNV are taken off the price
- That it is affordable for the CLT to purchase even with debt, with no more than 50% debt on the total portfolio of assets, including both outstanding debt and any new debt taken out by the CLT to acquire the shares
- A fair return for founding investors. Eventually it is anticipated that the value will at least match the original input of the founder investors in cash and time while having created a strong, sustainable and relatively low-risk asset for the CLT.
Since 2014 up to 31 March 2024 the two founding investors have invested cash at today’s prices (i.e. adjusted for inflation) of over £400k and contributed over 1,380 unpaid days (an average of 138 days per year combined, assuming 7 hour days). As of 31 March 2024 the price of the shares and return they would receive would be zero in accordance with the formula in the Shareholder’s Agreement. However, the transfer will not take place until up to 5 years after ‘steady state’ is achieved in order to provide fair opportunity for founding investors to earn a fair return, or July 2030 being the ten year anniversary of the agreement (whichever is earlier). Any return or repayment of the initial investment remains at significant risk.
Had we sought equivalent investment from alternative sources, e.g. banks, social investors they would have required less risk, formal charge on buildings as security and regular returns from the start. We would not have been able to provide this, so it would have been too expensive and impossible to raise alternative finance of this type.
Read more about the Shareholders’ Agreement and how it works here
No dividends have been drawn so far.
The shareholders do not charge for their time as directors of the business. At various points they have charged for specific pieces of work such as developing funding bids, preparing feasibility studies for particular projects, or providing project management, beyond the remit of company director duties. Such payments have always been agreed by the relevant boards and subject to detailed scrutiny in line with our financial oversight and management policies.
Jess Steele, the sole owner of Jericho Road Solutions Ltd has been paid a salary as the CEO of Hastings Commons since July 2022.
As of 31 March 2024, together Meanwhile Space CIC and Jericho Road Solutions Ltd have invested over £400k of cash and contributed over 1,380 days (an average of 138 days per year combined, assuming 7 hour days). These unpaid hours do not include hours charged through any consultancy or employment arrangements described above.
Our published accounts for each entity include notes outlining all ‘related party’ transactions and these include any transaction with Directors or Shareholders of any of the entities. The CLT accounts in particular provide a summary of all the related party transactions across all Commons entities and any other connected parties. You can download the CLT accounts for each year – they have been published here.
Our funding
Public and charitable grant funding is very important to achieve public goods and social justice. The long years of neglect and disinvestment in Hastings require grant funding to put right, but our overall aim is to combine this with a wider range of investment and earned income so that we can reach a ‘steady state’ of self-sufficiency and community self-management.
Since the purchase of Rock House in 2014 a total of £23.41 million has been awarded to entities across Hastings Commons, of which £21.02m has been from the public sector, with the remainder from trusts, foundations or other private sources. Of the funds awarded 75% (£17.49 million) have been capital grants for the development of buildings.
£9.24m of the funds awarded have not yet been spent, of which 89% (£8.22m) of capital funding has not yet been spent.
You can find out more about some of our most significant funding at the bottom of this page.
For a full breakdown of the funds awarded, to which entity, what has been spent and their uses here
For all the grant funds we receive we must abide by the strict terms and conditions of each grant. This will depend on each grant, but for the vast majority this includes:
- Detailed due diligence carried out by the funder prior to making an award on our governance, financial policies and procedures, financial history and forecasts, and impact.
- Evidence of spend in accordance with the grant agreement and purpose, including providing both invoices and evidence of payment
- Evidence of outputs and outcomes in accordance with the grant agreement and purpose
Of the total £23.41m funding we have been awarded, £17m has been won through competitive bidding processes from national or regional funding that otherwise would not have been invested within Hastings. The majority of the £5.5m allocated to Hastings was through the Towns Fund, Coastal Communities Fund and CHART (together £4.8m of capital funding), plus £0.6m from the Community Renewal Fund (see below for more information on this fund).
Securing these funds takes an enormous amount of work, knowledge, expertise, management, governance and oversight. Funders are attracted by the Hastings Commons mission and our track record in managing complex projects, especially those seeking to make capital investments to support neighbourhood regeneration and community participation. The vast majority of our funds have been capital in nature, and often require investment on so-called ‘shovel ready’ projects which can be completed over short 1-2 year timeframes.
Wherever possible our revenue / project funds are spent with local suppliers – small businesses often within the creative industries.
No member of the Hastings Commons team or any connected or related party has been involved in taking decisions to grant funding for any entity across Hastings Commons since 2014.
All the money earned from events, rents and hires is used to fund the ongoing work of Hastings Commons including the staff team, costs of management and maintenance of the buildings, and ongoing development.
Since 2019, there has been a shortfall between the total earned income from buildings and the annual running costs. This shortfall is met primarily through grants or loans outlined above. This is not unusual during major redevelopment periods as earning potential is limited whilst many of the operational costs like staff are still required. We are working towards the buildings reaching what we call ‘steady state’ which means they are earning enough to meet all the ongoing costs and provide surplus to support other activity. At that point grant support would no longer be required except for additional programme or project work such as youth and community activities, and any further development of new sites.
The YIF is a £300M fund from the UK Government (Dept for Culture Media & Sport) run by the Social Investment Business (SIB) to create new youth facilities. The vast majority (90%+) of the funding is for capital (buildings) rather than revenue (for workers or projects) which meant building or capital works had to be ‘shovel ready’. All YIF funding ends in April 2025.
Hastings Commons was contacted in August 2022 and encouraged to apply for a substantial grant because SIB wanted to be sure that at least some of the funding went to multi-purpose organisations that were more likely to be able to sustain the youth work after the funding ended, through cross-subsidising from other income sources.
We were granted a total of £8.6 million of which £7.8 million is to be spent on the renovation of Eagle House and the Observer Building Rooftop, which will be completed by April 2025. The rest of the money funds the youth programme staff and costs along with support for Xtrax and Groundwork South, key partners in the programme. The youth team are currently delivering a well-attended after school youth club, which provides hot food and opportunities to try out new activities, alongside running OB Sounds, large scale music events. From June to Nov 2023 the Youth Commons had 1,326 visits from young people aged 11-18. OB Sounds events have sold out, attracting audiences of 200 14-17 years olds from Hastings and St Leonards. OBX regularly works with young people through provision of creative technology workshops, youth led arts/music projects and through work experience opportunities. OBX supported 8 placements for 16-18 year olds from Bexhill College, and a further 8 placements for students from East Sussex College Hastings from March to September 2024, culminating in Dream/Time, an intergenerational piece of participatory art, commissioned by the young people and shown in Priory Meadow to over 9000 people.
What is the Heritage Action Zone?
High Street Heritage Action Zones are a £95 million government-funded initiative led by Historic England and designed to secure lasting improvements to historic high streets for the communities that use them. Of the 70 HAZs in the country, The Trinity Triangle HAZ is one of only two community-led HAZs nationally, with the other 68 schemes led by local authorities. The bid for TTHAZ, written for Heart of Hastings CLT (now Hastings Commons CLT), included 12 different elements – projects and ideas that had emerged over many years of local work and community engagement in the White Rock area. Funding has been split across five strands - buildings, stories, learning & digital, and programme delivery. For detailed information on these click here
Through the Community Renewal Fund, HCNV received money to support the development of the Creative Technology Hub in the Observer Building and Cult Brand received money to deliver The Who exhibition. The two bids were originally separate, but Napster, who were working alongside Cult Brand, could no longer continue with the bid, so HCNV were approached to take over the grant administration of both the Observer Building and the Cult Brand programmes.
In 2022 the Towns Fund awarded Hastings Commons just under £4m of capital funding to purchase Eagle House, contribute to the development of 12 Claremont, and continue the development of the Phase 1 of the Observer Building (which included the residential ‘shell’ and services on the 2nd and 3rd floors, as well as the Mezzanine and events spaces for OBX, our creative digital hub). Up to 31 March 2024 just over £1.8m of this had been spent, with the majority of the remaining funding contributing to the development of 12 Claremont owned by the CLT.
In October 2024 the Towns Fund awarded a further £1.5m for a Town Living project to complete the internal renovation and enable us to offer 12 affordable homes. The original plan for the OB included 16 affordable homes, in the end we received planning permission for 15. We are building the first 12 in the main building and considering options for the southern extension. Our ‘phased organic development’ approach means we keep all possible uses under review as development progresses.
We are currently in the middle of the process to become a Registered Provider of affordable housing which we hope to complete in early 2025. This would provide a foundation to grow the number of affordable homes we can offer across the Commons and help tackle the housing crisis in the town.
For all our spaces including our homes we have clear nomination criteria that include an assessment of genuine need for an affordable space or home; local connection to the town; and an enthusiasm for and contribution to the Hastings Commons mission. The 12 new homes being developed in the Observer Building with support from the Town Living Fund will start with nominations from Hastings Borough Council before going through our standard application process. You can find out more about our selection criteria and what we mean by ‘affordable’ in the FAQs above.
You can also find more information on the Towns Fund and Town Living project via the Hastings Borough Council website here.
Public Meetings
Our next open public event will be a stand from 9am - 5pm on 16th May in Priory Meadow shopping Centre fto celebrate World CLT day This is a chance to learn more about the movement of Community Land Trusts globally, as well as ask questions of the trustee, staff, member and volunteers of Hastings Commons CLT. No need to let us know you are coming in advance, just drop in whenever you can on the day
We are often asked questions about how Hastings Commons works. We are committed to transparency and we regularly update the FAQs above based on feedback from the community. We also hold open meetings for any member of the public to attend and ask questions of the management team and board members of the organisations across Hastings Commons.
If you have a question please email us at learnmore@hastingscommons.com. We will endeavour to respond within 3 weeks, and post answers to frequently asked questions on this page.
The date of our next open public Q+A is TBC - Spring 2025. If you would like to attend please email us at learnmore@hastingscommons.com and do let us know if you have any access needs or any specific areas you would like us to spend more time on.