Holding out for a hero: the role of champions in community-led housing development and its implications for replicability and accessibility

Innovation often needs an extra push through the barriers of formal procedures. Champions are the unsung heroes within institutions who are committed to making it happen. Their work is vital when innovative community projects require external permission from institutions that can make or break a project. At the same time, we found that communities’ reliance on champions’ support can leave them vulnerable and represent a challenge for duplication, justice, and scale. This paper demonstrates this duality through the case of community-led housing projects in England, drawing on several research projects over ten areas. Using an uncommon methodological approach and employing the concept of champions to CLH studies, we identify the key attributes of champions, map out the points when they are most needed in the development process, and highlight potential ethical implications for fair access to support.