This document discusses co-operative and social housing models in the UK. It provides information on: - The Confederation of Co-operative Housing, which promotes co-operative housing and assists organizations with governance and service delivery. - Examples of co-operative housing partnerships between housing associations and local co-ops that manage housing. - Barriers to growth in co-operative housing like perceptions, relevance, image, and normal barriers like funding and land access. - Innovations that can help overcome barriers and further the growth of co-operative housing.

1. Building an Economy to Serve People

2. Who We Are
 Social Landlord & Service Agent
 Own / Manage 3,500 homes
 Our Job
 Be a good landlord
 Help more people to live in co-op housing
 Champion co-operation

3. What Is Co-op Housing?
 Homes
 People own or rent
 Collectively manage/make decisions
 Under a formal structure
 housing co-op – own & live
 management co-op – manage & live
 mutual housing organisation/gateway
 Other community led housing models

4. Co-ops – What Exists?
 Bigger than you might think!
 1,000 in UK
 200,000 homes
 0.5m people
 £530m turnover
 £10bn assets
 But still small
 Only 1% market
£10bn
£520m
200,000
1000
10
1%

5. Much Good News
 Upsurge of Community Models
 Community Land Trusts (CLT)
 Garden Cities Movement
 Student Housing Co-ops
 Wales - Pioneer Projects
 The “new mutuals” - Rochdale BH
 & Design Solutions
 Wikihouse
 PreFab

6. Barriers to Overcome
 Awareness - “ what’s a housing co-op ? ”
 Relevance - “ but that’s not for me “
 Image - “ isn’t that just hippies “
 Reputation - “ poor quality, badly managed”
PLUS
 THE NORMAL ONES!
 Money
 Land
 Planning

7. Myth Busting
 Good quality housing for everyone
 Rent or Sale – town or country – any price
 Run Efficiently
 Benefit of those who live in them
 Co-operation helps to
 Make Good choices
 Save Money
 Community = Good neighbours
 Safer & healthier places to live
 Not ‘one size fits all’

8. What Do We Need to Do?
 Change Perceptions
 Lead by example – work together
 Unite around simple core messages
 Engage public support & enthusiasm
 Seek positive advantages for co-op and
community housing in planning, tax and
flexible funding
 Good tools – training, money,
business skills, land, building

9. WHAT’S STOPPING
YOU?
Building and Economy to Serve People
Who will work harder than you to make sure you
have a good home?
How many people do you know who are just like
you?
QUESTIONS FOR YOU!

10. Growing Co-operative &
Social Housing
Blase Lambert
21st January 2016

11. The Confederation of
Co-operative Housing
• The representative body for co-operative and mutual
housing in England & Wales since 1992
• Aims and objectives:
 Promote viable forms of co-operative, mutual &
community led housing
 Assist organisations to enhance governance &
deliver excellent services
 Provide networking opportunities
• Our member organisations range from 1 home to
several thousand homes (c£2b of uncharged assets)
• Programme with 19 projects in Wales with Labour
government to deliver 600 new co-operative homes

12. Commission on Co-operative &
Mutual Housing

13. Redditch Co-operative Homes
Accord Housing Association
(Finance & Development)
Development, Corporate
& Financial Services
Agreements
Redditch Co-operative Homes
(Management Services)
7 year lease &
Management
Agreement
Neighbourhood Co-ops
(Local Scheme Management)
• Partnership between
Accord HA & Redditch
Borough Council
• Financed & developed
through Accord HA
(which retains freehold)
• Long lease to
intermediary (RCH)
• Shorter leases to 6 local
management co-
operatives
• Currently another 226
homes in the pipeline
through Accord / BCHS

14. What about the Big Society?
• Grant free models
• Social housing free
developments
• Home ownership is
what everyone
wants!
• The antidote?
• Councils using
their assets and
borrowing capacity
to support new
build
• Brixton Green

15. Further Advice & Guidance
Blase Lambert
Chief Officer
CCH
07940 448014
blase@cch.coop
www.cch.coop

16. About us
• Formed as a Secondary services co-op in
2006
• Founder members -Consortium of 38
small organisations ( 31 Housing co-ops)
• Take control of their own services on a co-
operative basis
• Incremental Growth : we currently have 46
members

17. Primary Housing co-op
members
• 2500 units : £250 Million assets
• £10 million Cash / £7 Mill debt
• Regulated by HCA – Long Track record
• Most affordable rents / highest standards
& satisfaction levels
• Community cohesion/ minimal anti social
behaviour

18. Competitive advantage : Co-operatives
Co-operating
• Co-operative Capital : Cash holdings
leverage with Banks
• Members Loan Fund
• Assets: Bargaining power / economies of
scale with common Business costs –
Insurance, audit , maintenance, staff, ICT
• Vat cost sharing group
• Mutual tax status – mutual trading

19. Positive Growth Developments
in the North
• Larger Social Landlords Divesting
• Princes Park Housing Co-op
• Langrove Community Housing Co-op
• Unregulated by HCA: New Models
: Granby 4 streets CLT
: Housing People Building Communities
: Sheffield Student Housing Co-ops
: North Huyton Community futures

20. Innovations in Finance
• Members loan Fund
• Social Philanthropic Investor
• Wider Co-op Sector Support - Phone Co-op
• Sweat Equity to Fund deposit
• Sale and Leaseback
• Community Shares
• Radical Routes

21. Need to Innovate Further
• Wider collaborations in the sector
• More Bargaining Power – Lower costs of Management
and Maintenance
• Development Costs – not for profit
• Dialogue with bigger social Landlords
• Maximise use of co-operative capital
• Appeal to wider investment
• Best model for investment : 100 % Tenant Controlled ?
perception it’s a private and not social venture
• Barrier to Social Investor confidence in model