community led housing london

resource and advice hub

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West London Shared-House Purchase

A small group of individuals looking to club together to buy and share a house.

As a form of community living, each resident would have their own large bedroom and en-suite bathroom, with shared kitchen and dining areas, and other shared facilities.

While this is similar to many rented house shares, the aim is to share the ownership of the house, with those who are buying the house becoming ‘Tenants in Common’ and, perhaps, renting out a room or two.

The group is still forming. There are no pre-conditions as to age, gender etc, and the aim is not to create an ‘intentional community’ built around a particular ideology or demographic. Rather, it will be a group of people who value their independence but don’t want to live entirely alone.

Potential group members need to meet, talk, exchange ideas, get to know each other, and agree on space, affordability, and budgets.

Contact the group if you’re interested

First Brick Housing

First Brick Housing is a democratically-run, non-profit, member-owned organisation aiming to build housing and community spaces for LGBTQ+ people, creating environments where people can live safely, free from oppression and socialise in a place they can call their own.

We have provided initial advice on structuring the organisation.

They are currently seeking donations and volunteers to get the project off the ground.

Visit their website

Beam River CLT

Based in East London, Beam River CLT is aiming to empower disadvantaged members of the African community through the provision of affordable housing.

They are also motivated by the negative impacts of loneliness and isolation and are looking to create a supportive community, which will combat the challenge of social care for the elderly.

How we helped
We supported Beam River CLT to focus their strategic thinking and helped them incorporate.

 Visit their website

London Filipino Cohousing

A Filipino Community group aiming to build a mixed tenure, intergenerational cohousing community.

The London Filipino Co-Housing Project was initiated in early 2019 by four households from the Filipino community in London.

The project, which is supported by Bahay-Kubo Housing Association and Kanlungan Filipino Consortium, is keen to address the issue of housing affordability which often faces low paid Filipino migrant workers working in the public sector, particularly those employed in health and social care.

How we’re helping:

We have helped to identify a site and have committed a small amount of funding for an initial feasibility study and will be supporting wider business planning.

Brockley Tenants Co-operative

An established housing co-operative seeking to expand and adapt to the changing needs of their residents.

Brockley Tenants’ Co-operative has been in existence for forty years as a Registered Provider and owns 90 units across Lewisham.

Having paid off most of their mortgages, they are now looking to expand their housing stock to provide more social housing for those in need. This expansion will also allow them to adapt to the changing needs of their elderly residents, some of whom are no longer suited to their existing housing stock.

How we’re helping:

We are supporting Brockley Tenants with long term business planning to establish what they can do without putting existing homes at risk.

 
Visit their web page

Photograph by Peter Brooker