Co-operatives
What is a Housing Co-op?
Housing co-operatives are essentially housing associations governed by the tenants/members that give tenants control over their own housing. They provide rented housing without landlords, or rather, the tenants are collectively their own landlord. They allow people to collectively control their housing without the need to personally own property.
Whilst members put in the work to set up the co-op and manage the property in exchange for having a home, they cannot extract any financial benefits from the property value, and the cost of rent remains affordable and independent of market prices for all future tenants.
Housing co-operatives in common ownership contribute to the transfer of property out of the private housing market whilst creating an affordable commonly owned asset, even after the original members have left. It also means that should the co-op ever cease to exist, its assets would stay within the co-operative movement instead of going into private hands. Whilst by no means the only solution to the ongoing housing crisis in Britain, we believe housing co-ops are a vital part of broader social movements striving for a more just society.
You can read more about housing co-ops here.
Co-operative Values
Co-op values are based on self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. Whilst we are by no means perfect, these are our aims.
We hold regular meetings to make collective decisions about the house, how we live in it together, and how we organise areas of work including financial management, renovation and maintenance, and governance.
Fully Mutual, Par Value Co-operative
We are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Industrial & Provident Societies Act, 1965. “Fully Mutual” means that all tenants are members and all members are either tenants or prospective tenants. Each member holds a single share, valued at a nominal £1, which is the limit of the member’s liability. All members own the same value of shares in the co-operative (one). “Par Value” means that if you have one share, you have one vote.
The ownership of the house and land cannot be divided up among the members. The property remains in common ownership from generation to generation and if the co-operative is dissolved, the assets must be passed to another co-op or a not-for-profit organisation with similar aims and principles. This is specified in our registered Model Rules which can be found here.