In the late 1970's a group of single people got together after they realised that they had very little hope of being housed by the local authority. They looked into the possibility of forming an housing co-operative, as the government at that time were looking kindly on such organisations.

The original members had some experience with housing associations. They managed to work their way through the red tape by forming a friendly society, and also registering with the housing corporation in order to allow them to receive funding for house purchasing and development.

The membership grew through the use of the local housing aid centre and within two years they were able to open their first house. The idea originally was to house single people, but because the houses did not always allow themselves to split up into single units, there were some larger units which allowed family accommodation.

Since then, the co-op has been run by its members who meet monthly to make decisions on policy and other matters re: its management. The administration of the co-op on a day-to-day basis is done by two professional staff who work in our office based in Kensal Rise.

 

Written by: Michael Saffer