A national blueprint

A new model for community-led regeneration, placemaking and local control at scale

For generations, councils directly shaped towns and cities. Public investment delivered homes, civic buildings, infrastructure and long-term assets designed around public need, not short-term return.

Over time, that model changed. As public funding reduced, regeneration increasingly shifted to private developers. In that system, long-term community value is negotiated, not maximised. Affordable homes, employment space, community places and civic infrastructure are often reduced through viability negotiations. Profits are extracted and leave the place they were created.

Our towns, our communities deserve a new model of development.

We exist to prove that community-led development can operate at scale, in complex town-centre sites, under real commercial pressures. Not as a campaign or a protest, but as a credible, investable delivery model that can compete directly with private developers.

Ownership determines outcomes

When a community owns land and assets, value can be held locally and reinvested over the long term. That means:

• More capacity to deliver affordable homes and social rent
• Space for local businesses, makers and social enterprises to stay and grow
• Community buildings and shared spaces that remain accessible
• Long-term stewardship of place, not short-term extraction

Our model works because we combine community ownership with professional delivery, strong governance and aligned investors who accept capped returns in exchange for long-term social, economic and environmental value.

A model built for long-term resilience

We are delivering development differently. A new model for regeneration. One that keeps long-term value rooted in the very community it’s created.

By recycling surplus back into the scheme, we can continue strengthening outcomes over time. That might mean more affordable homes, enhanced public spaces, new community facilities, or investment in future phases.

This creates a fundamentally different feedback loop. Instead of value leaving the town, it compounds locally, building economic resilience and strengthening community infrastructure over generations.

Why this matters beyond Frome

If communities can organise, raise capital and compete for complex regeneration sites, it changes what is possible across the UK. It shows that:

• Communities can lead regeneration, not just respond to it
• Investment can deliver both financial discipline and long-term public value
• Development can be structured to serve place first, not extract from it

We are not claiming community-led development replaces every model. But it must be part of the future mix if we want towns that are economically resilient, socially connected and environmentally sustainable.

From local project to national proof

We are proving that community-led regeneration can:

• Compete commercially
• Attract professional partners and institutional-grade delivery
• Raise significant community investment
• Deliver at town-centre regeneration at scale
• Retain ownership and control locally

Saxonvale is not just about one site. It is about demonstrating a model that other towns can adapt and use. 

The future of a town’s regeneration should not be decided somewhere else and by someone else. 

It should be owned, shaped and stewarded by the very communities who live with the outcomes every day.

A national blueprint for community-led regeneration at scale

Community Share Offer

Community Benefit Society (CBS)

Our investment partner Resonance

Our position and FAQs