Social value and the disposal of public land for community-led housing: applying a multi-level perspective to the case of Bristol

Access to land has long been a barrier to the growth of the community-led housing (CLH) sector in England. Bristol has recently emerged as a leading proponent through a public land disposal policy that prioritises CLH by recognising wider social value. In the case of Bristol’s policy, this paper recognises a transition towards social sustainability in regimes of public land disposal in this city. The findings indicate that bottom-linked governance between local authorities and CLH intermediaries is crucial in operationalising supportive frameworks for land disposal. The paper examines debates over the suitability of social value as a supporting framework.