Nice little earners

Registered social landlords that own commercial properties usually put the income from rents towards subsidising their affordable housing. West London-based Notting Hill Housing Trust, for example, owns 22 charity shops which raise approximately £1m a year.

The William Sutton Trust's commercial units produce an annual rental income of at least £500,000. For any housing association, that would be a useful sum to plough back into bricks and mortar, but in 2000, as part of its centenary celebrations, the trust decided to use its good fortune for the broader benefit of its tenants. It dedicated its commercial property income to Housing Plus activities – meaning it would act as more than just a landlord and try to improve the quality of life of its tenants. The trust appointed a community investment adviser to develop action plans for all the association's estates and to see how estates could create the youth groups, play facilities, training programmes, creches and exercise classes that would bind communities together and help them thrive.

More than two and a half years on, the funds going into Housing Plus activities are growing, and so is the impetus of the community-building initiative. There are now nearly 500 community resources, projects and facilities. In 2003/2004 the trust expects to be able to distribute even more money – £800,000 – to them from its retail rents. That contribution will be more than matched from other funding sources – sources which will also match the value of the many hours of voluntary work put in by tenants themselves (See "Other sources of funding").

This approach harks back to the trust's early development activity, according to Roy Thirlwell, housing director for William Sutton Trust's eastern region. "When you look at the way in which many of our estates were first developed, there was a much more sustainable view of community," he says. "We provided play spaces and even allotments. But the big change is that then we were providing for the tenants, while now we are being guided by the tenants in what we provide. We are reflecting their needs and concerns, but we are reacting in a way that gives them more control."

Then we were providing for the tenants, now we are being guided by the tenants. We are reflecting their needs and concerns

Roy Thirlwell, housing director (eastern region), william sutton trust

The trust's money kick-starts community initiatives, but tenants have to do their bit, in fundraising and voluntary effort, to really make things happen. "We're not doing things for people. We are creating opportunities," says Nick Beanland, community investment adviser with the trust.

That has been a labour-intensive process for Beanland and his team of nine community development workers. "The first thing we had to do was look at the estates – some are urban, some are rural, a lot are in neighbourhood renewal areas. We had to look at what is going on in an area, what the issues are," he says. "Then we can't do anything unless there's a tenant group. Our tenant participation adviser gave us a good basis in getting the tenants' associations together. We have also done a lot of training with tenant groups on such subjects as how to fundraise."

William Sutton Trust gives funding for a range of projects involving community development, employment and training, lifelong learning, anti-poverty, safety, healthy living, the elderly and youth. The nature of projects can vary from the highly visible play facilities at the St Quintins Park Estate, west London (see box, above), to the small team of community wardens created to increase neighbourhood security for residents at the Saltersgill estate, in Middlesbrough. Whatever the project, tenants are expected to contribute – Saltersgill's community wardens scheme has sparked interest in other initiatives, such as homework clubs and IT clubs, which also rely on tenants giving up their spare time.

The housing association started to measure what tenants' time was worth in financial terms last year, and is now measuring its own in-kind contributions in the same way. Tenants contributed almost 86,000 hours of their time last year, and helped to bring in other grants. "We reckoned that all together tenants have helped bring in £1.6m over the last year. What the trust gives, we are getting back," says Beanland. "Tenants get a great feelgood factor from it. We're giving them the chance to make a difference."