Co-operative Housing ‘Delivering in Practice’
Bron Lloyd – Director of Community Regeneration, Charter Housing, Pobl Group
Dave Palmer - Co-operative Housing Project Manager, Wales Co-operative centre
What do you want from your home and its neighbourhood
• List the top 5 most important things
• On a scale of 0 to 5 how much of this is within your control
• What are the barriers?
• What if you could overcome some of these by working with other people and the help of an RSL
Here are some people who did just that
What our Co-operators said was important • Safety of my family – comfortable and safe in my own home
• People respecting and caring for their neighbourhood
• Feeling welcome and secure
• Safe place for children to play
• An extended family safety and trust
• Sense of Community
• Everybody treated with respect ..equal, having a say and helping each other
• Friendly, safe and clean
• Ecological with not a lot of traffic
• Equal votes in decisions communicating matters , respect
• Quality of life
What our Co-operators said they would like
• Affordable home ownership
• Some ownership/stake in their home to encourage a sense of ownership
• Being able to do what they wanted to their home
• Affordability is key
• Affordable home to rent maybe buy
• Car Club
• Village and water – nice place to live
• Garden
• Space for small businesses
• Community Orchard with ducks
What does everyone want ? • A community that is welcoming and safe
• Where you have as much control over your home as possible
• Neighbours when you need them, privacy when you want it
• Where you have the ability to influence what happens around you
• Where other people who want the same things can help you achieve this
What a Co-op is ….. There are many types of Housing Co-operatives
Rented Co-Housing Home- ownership
• Small Co-ops – members sharing a rented house
• Larger Co-ops – tenant management
• Co-operative leasehold
‘Intentional communities’ with shared living, mostly owned and with people who know each other
Shared ownership Mutual Home ownership Community Self- Build
Loftus Garden Village – Newport
Loftus Village Association
Local enthusiasm
Strong partnerships
Flexibility
Three key elements
Mixed tenure
membership
Enduring membership
to Co-op
Defines Co-op
functions
The Cooperative – shared ownership rents, community issues, membership
Charter – intermediate rent, support in complex cases, additional tenancy
matters, monitoring
Pobl living – sales, staircasing, services
The Model and How it works
Loftus Village Association
Model Rules Co-ops UK +
Co-op Services
Occupancy Agreements Shared Owner Freeholder Tenant
Sales / letting
Charter Housing
The People • Members: 19, Ages:22 to 63
• Employment: full & part time employed, home makers
• Tenure: 1 owner, 2 rental, 16 shared ownership
• Status:
• below 70% mortgability
• first or second time buyers
• Living at home
• Private renting
• Intermediate renting
• Housing association tenants
Iris has a low single person income but wants to move back into homeownership
Lesley lives alone, is close to retirement and has limited options to increase her income.
Emma works in education is single in her early 20’s living with her parents.
The People
More than just Housing • We want to get together and negotiate a group deal on
our gas and electricity.
• The Association will run through a local exchange network.
• We want to reduce our impact on the environment and earn money.
• We’re ready to get growing and will be making space in our shared garden to grow plants, herbs and vegetables to share.
More than just Housing • Invest in energy saving projects leading to
reduced fuel bills for everyone
• All moving together to build a community
• Co-operative Energy offer groups: £20 to each house signed up,
• Welcome packs for each house,
• Membership points,
• prepayment smart meters and energy saving training if needed,
• Fund raising for community projects
Income Costs
Total rent o Borrowing payments
£
o Management costs HA
o Management fee Co-operative
o Maintenance fee 4% - tenanted
Small Surplus recycled to support further affordability
Finances and Viability Values £
Market value Total open market values
£ from purchaser Receipts from buyers (mortgage or cash)
£ from Pobl
Remaining investment (borrowings) o 0% outright sale o 30-70% shared ownership o 100% tenanted
Grant If available offset against HA borrowings
Programme of Work – WG support Social Enterprises and Mutuals and seek to provide 20,000 affordable homes and Co-operative Housing is well placed to provide a share of this target Housing Pact – support for co-operative housing is noted in CIH/WLGA’s Housing Pact.
Key enablers Key outcomes
Support housing development across all geographies;
continuation of funding for Rural Housing Enablers
and support for Co-operative housing
Work together to support the innovative development
and delivery of new models of affordable housing that
meet current demands and future need
Some of the schemes LA Partner HA Partner Type
Home Farm Village
Housing Co-op *
Cardiff Cadwyn
Housing
Affordable rent
Old Oak Housing Co-op* Carmarthen Grŵp Gwalia Intermediate rent
Loftus Gardens Co-op * Newport Seren Shared Ownership
Gwynedd Community
Land Trust #
Gwynedd Grŵp Cynefin Affordable homes
for sale
Ty Cyfle ** Torfaen Bron Afon
Housing
Young people
shared housing
West Rhyl Community
Land Trust **
Denbighshire North Wales
Housing
Rented housing in
regeneration
Taf Fechan Housing Co-op,
Gellideg **
Merthyr Tydfil
CBC
MV Homes 90% local market
rental
… and there’s more
bubbling under
LA Partner HA Partner Type
L’Arche - Cohousing in
Mold
Flintshire SHARP Learning difficulties
Shakespeare Gardens,
Pontypridd. **
Rhondda Cynon
Taff CBC
Newydd
Housing
Single people
rented
St Davids Community
Land Trust #
Pembrokeshire Pembs Housing
Asss’n
Large mixed tenure
Wrexham Self Build Self Build
Bronllys Well Being Park Powys Health
and Well Being
Action Group
tbc Large health &
housing scheme
Key - *Pioneer Schemes, ** Pilot Schemes # ‘Shovel Ready’ – Advanced Projects
Strategy and ‘Lessons Learnt’
So what have we learnt?
• Is not a one size fits all solution – bespoke arrangements for different requirements
• local people have responded enthusiastically when given opportunity
• strong partnerships between communities, local authorities and housing associations – housing staff are learning new skills – and are becoming as enthusiastic as the communities
How can you help?
• The strategic role helping us
to identify sites, possibilities
and partnerships
• imaginative and innovative
uses of the HRA and General
Fund
• talk to us one to one – tell us
what you want and we will
help you to deliver it
• visit some of the schemes….?
Any Questions ?
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