community led housing london

Co-operative

Sycamore Housing

A group living in the private rented sector and working towards a long-term housing solution.

They aim to have secure, affordable homes, combining personal autonomy with communal elements like shared space, decision making and facilities.

Several members are active in housing campaigns such as the London Renters’ Union and are motivated by collective ownership of property, rather than seeing it as an asset. They want to create a future community of 10 households in North East London with a caring and supportive environment and where residents are democratically in control.

They are incorporated as a Mutual Home Ownership Society which allows the accumulation of acquiring equity shares as part of monthly payments.

How we’re helping
We have provided advice and supported incorporation and proposals for sites in LB Waltham Forest.

Surge Co-op

Surge Co-operative aims to create sustainable and affordable moorings for larger boats and barges in London, making use of underused historic wharves in the Lower Lea.

Surge is a non-profit organisation set up with the primary focus to reanimate tidal water spaces with affordable, co-operatively run moorings. They are nurturing the heritage and biodiversity of the area and building lasting community links on land and water.

The group are collaborating with Thames Water to transform a strip of land and reinstate barge moorings, enabling the local community to have better river access for clean-ups and other ecological activities. This is part of a wider plan to provide and nurture affordable co-operative moorings, giving much needed security of tenure to a community of boaters with larger boats along the River Lea and further afield.

How we’re helping
We are providing guidance on how to engage landowners and continue negotiations, as well as financial modelling.

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Heads2Gether

Heads2Gether aim to provide mutually supportive and secure affordable interim housing for single parents on low incomes.

Heads2Gether formed as a group of single parents during experiences in temporary accommodation, but involve other families and individuals from Croydon. Their key aim is to provide safe, secure, mutually supportive, affordable homes for their members as well as the establishment of community childcare.

How we’re helping
We have held workshops and advised on incorporation. We introduced pro-bono architectural support and went through outline viability to support a their bid for the Lawns site in Croydon. Our support helped turn an idea into a credible proposal which impressed the Council.
More recently we helped incorporate Heads2Gether as a Housing Co-operative, and identified a site and sympathetic landowner. We are facilitating a partnership with a housing association to co-produce a development on this site, and been working on the terms of the development with a view to focusing on management and allocation arrangements in due course.

 Read more about their story

 

Coin Street

The process from community campaign into community developer shows what residents can achieve. A flexible organisational structure has allowed accountability to members and successful self-managed social housing delivery.

Number of homes 220 affordable homes with other uses
Location South Bank
Project Stage Several schemes since 1998

How they formed
Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) grew out of campaigns against commercial development in the area in the late 70s, which had led to the loss of residents and closure of schools, shops, and open spaces. The remaining residents organised themselves to carry out a lengthy campaign for an alternative planning strategy based around affordable housing and open space. Only local people could be members of CSCB and select the board of directors. The board are mainly local residents, with others brought in for specialist skills.

Securing the site
The campaign worked with borough councils and the Greater London Council (GLC) to put in place planning policy for the area which limited the value of the land from £4m to £1m. Before its abolition the GLC acquired the land from the developers and local authorities and sold it on to Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB), a non-profit company set up to purchase the land and take the development forward.

Funding and Finance 
The GLC had funded the initiative to undertake feasibility studies and development work, which was eventually turned into a loan and repaid once the land was purchased. CSCB borrowed money to finance the £1m site purchase including from the GLC and the Greater London Enterprise Board, as well as private lenders. They used Housing Corporation grants towards the costs of developing the social housing. They have also raised funding from commercial endeavours, such as the refurbishment of the Oxo Tower, to invest money back into the area. In the initial phases the group raised revenue through temporary uses to start to pay back their loans and create surpluses for their development schemes.

Design and Construction
The Coin Street Secondary Housing Cooperative, a Registered Provider of social housing, developed family accommodation for around 1,000 people. The developments are leased to four independent fully mutual housing co-ops, where only residents are members. The Mulberry Housing Co-op was the first housing scheme to be completed in 1998. In the same year a temporary market at Gabriel’s Wharf opened up a public space along the riverside and brought small businesses to the neighbourhood. Iroko Housing Co-op was opened in 2002 designed by Haworth Tompkins Architects to very high standards and energy saving elements made possible through CSCB’s economic independence. The neighbourhood centre offering a mix of local facilities and services, childcare and income generating conference spaces was opened in 2007.

Living there
The co-operatives foster a collective commitment to the homes. The management is the responsibility of the co-operatives, who can respond quickly to the needs of people living there. New tenants are not expected to have previous knowledge of housing management but can take part in decision making for their communities and help manage the properties. New tenants are required to complete training which gives them a sense of responsibility and the skills required for this stewardship role.

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Coin Street Palm Housing Co-op