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.
An opportunity for a community led housing organisation to deliver 16 affordable homes within the Hackney Wick town centre boundary as part of the East Wick neighbourhood in Hackney.
East Wick + Sweetwater Projects (EW+S) is the development partner for the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), delivering over 1,850 new homes across 7 phases, on the western edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as part of the wider Legacy Community Scheme. This community led opportunity already has outline permission for 16 homes and two non-residential units, and forms part of the 34% of affordable homes on the site.
Visit the EW+S website for further information on the opportunity and the Expression of Interest form.
Gida Housing Co-operative was incorporated 2021 in direct response to the poor quality of private rented housing experienced by black and minoritised communities in Tottenham and across London, both in terms of affordability and lack of influence over management and maintenance of their homes.
Gida is the Hausa word for ‘home’ and was birthed from the Ubele Initiative as part of their commitment to Community Wealth Building. The Ubele Initiative is a community organisation which plays a strategic role in supporting Black and Minoritized communities, with long standing commitments in Haringey.
Gida Housing Co-op aims to become an affordable housing provider which empowers under-represented communities and builds social value, by giving people influence and collective control over the management and maintenance of their own homes, as a response to the poor quality and insecure private rented housing many have had to endure. Gida’s values are aligned with Cooperative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and unity.
Gida is initially focused on the St Ann’s Hospital site with a view to ensuring homes and community spaces create a sense of community for the long term.
How we’re helping
We have supported work on governance, housing allocations, and financial appraisals, which contributed to a successful bid to the GLA for homes on the St Ann’s site.
We are currently supporting work on legal arrangements, housing management options and an application to the Regulator for Social Housing.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich released the Felixstowe Road site in Abbey Wood specifically for Community Land Trusts.
Greenwich join a string of boroughs including Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Croydon, and Camden in creating opportunities for community led housing, with several others working on individual schemes.
Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Anthony Okereke said “this initiative is part of our pledge to use innovative approaches to develop affordable housing in perpetuity for the borough’s residents and create sustainable communities”.
Greenwich Citizens Housing and London CLT were successful in being selected with designs consisting of 12 homes, including 6 two-storey houses flanked by two three-storey blocks of flats. Every home has a front door onto a pedestrianised ‘play street’.
They also secured the Susan Road sites in Kidbrooke.
How we’re helping
We supported two groups in preparing proposals for the council, and are funding London CLT to progress a planning application with Archio.
A self-build co-operative who built 13 sustainable timber frame homes in the 1990s.
| Number of homes | 13 social rented homes |
| Location | Downham, Lewisham |
| Completed on site | 1997 |
Fusions Jameen was a self-build co-operative where prospective residents organised the construction work and physically built their own homes, acting as contractors for CHISEL Housing Association, who took ownership of completed homes, and offered discounted social rents in return for self-builder residents’ labour.
Construction was based on the timber frame method pioneered by architect Walter Segal, although it had to be updated to meet more recent construction standards. The houses incorporate energy saving features and environmentally-healthy specifications.
As well as Nubia Way, Fusions Jameen built several other schemes.
Find out more here and through this recent film.