Words by Smiley Team
One of the biggest challenges facing young people today is the cost of renting. But what few people realise is that renting is not the only option – housing co-operatives offer an alternative that frees up residents and gives them the power to run their homes themselves.
Be it a block of flats or hundreds of individual properties, housing co-operatives are not-for-profit organisations run democratically by their members. In the UK, they emerged in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when the government granted squatters licenses to officially remain in the properties they were occupying.
Some hold strong values and entry criteria. Others operate similarly to normal rentals. While there are many different models for how housing co-operatives are run, they all abide by the same principles of resident control, democracy, security and fairer costs.
Southeast Londoner Euan James-Richards, aged 30, has lived in housing co-operatives for most of his life. As a young creative, his comparatively low rent liberates him to dedicate more time to his passions while doing paid work in a nearby pub. It permits him to live closer to his workplace than he otherwise might be able to and he enjoys the community ethos of the co-operative in which he currently lives, Deptford Housing Co-operative.
In particular, he appreciates the ability to have a say in the way his home is run, which is rarely the case for private rentals. “In housing co-operatives, the money that you spend on rent will all go back into either buying a new property to rent affordably or back into the house you’re living in,” Euan tells Smiley News.
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This contrasts starkly to his experience in the five years he has spent renting. “Landlords don’t have to do much for their properties because they’re not really held accountable,” he says, explaining: “In pretty much every house I’ve lived in privately, there was black mould on the walls, which I know is a big problem.”
Some cooperatives better serve single people, while others are open to couples and families, such as the Lewisham Family Co-operative Association, where Euan grew up.
Many cooperatives try to house a wide diversity of people, and Euan believes everyone should be able to live like this, rather than struggle with high rents.
“Co-ops are popping up everywhere,” he says. “But, unfortunately, I think it's a trend that most people don't know about at all.”
“Of course, there's a difference between sharing with friends and living collectively as a community," he adds. “It wouldn't suit some lifestyles, for example, if you want to party all the time it's maybe not your thing.”
But he urges anyone interested to apply to a co-operative near them. “It's a great opportunity to live more comfortably, with fewer worries, and to make more friendships,” he says.
JOIN A CO-OP: To find a housing co-operative near you, select ‘housing cooperative’ in the Co-op Directory.
DONATE: Help the Co-op's #GiveALittleSomething campaign. Retail co-ops across the UK are working together to support food banks and campaign against food injustice. Find out more.
