Fair, resident-controlled rental homes
The Collective Ownership Society is a co-operative organisation that holds properties for long-term lease rental to member housing co-ops.
Member co-ops are made up of residents with full power and responsibility of what it’s like to live in their homes, including how and when maintenance is done and how tenancies are managed.
Rents are independent of the private market and are not used for profit. Instead they help grow the number of properties to benefit more co-ops and residents. Member co-ops also have a stake in the Society, ensuring accountability.
Security and control
The Collective Ownership Society is a professionally managed freeholder of properties, issuing renewable leases to member co-ops. Residents will have day-to-day control of the property. Leases will be automatically renewed unless there is a substantial breach of terms. Member co-ops also have a stake in the Society ensuring accountability.
Our key principle is to create independence and avoid a culture of dependency in the traditional landlord-tenant relationship. This is an ‘adult’ transfer of rights and responsibilities, not interfering in what residents want to do in their own homes.
Rents and fairness
Houses should not be seen as assets to extract the maximum financial gain. Instead, Collective Ownership increases affordability over time, as debt on properties is progressively paid down.
In comparison with a private landlord or shareholders benefiting from the difference in market rent increases and debt repayments, the profit that would otherwise leak out from tenants can be used to increase the housing stock in collective ownership through further purchases, ensuring more and more people are able to live in stable, secure, self-managed homes.
We strike the balance between affordability and scalability, ensuring one does not take precedence over the other.
In the long term, a larger number of homes in Collective Ownership, will provide a powerful incentive for the improvement of living standards and an independent mechanism to temper property market speculation, as seen in other countries with large co-operative housing sectors.
Impactful investment in ethical housing
The Collective Ownership Society is a high impact and efficient investment vehicle delivering an innovative form of tenure that bridges the gap between the private rented sector, home ownership, and social housing.
We raise investment from a range of sources to finance property purchases, acting as an enabler and guarantor for the housing co-operatives we lease to. The stability and control allows for a sense of belonging and encourages investment in energy efficiency.
We work at scale to rapidly grow the number of properties in Collective Ownership. In this way, we provide an ethical investment capable of improving the options and conditions for those in the private rented sector.
A practical solution to the private rental crisis
We focus on stability and resident control to combat the insecurity and disempowerment faced by private renters.
We use scale to achieve both growth and greater affordability, whilst protecting the resident control, to provide a similar experience to home ownership in terms of stability and belonging, without extracting profit or speculating with homes.
Collective Ownership can transform the experience of renters, both directly and more broadly. To do this, we need your help.
Get in touch
We’d love to make connections and tell you more.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us:
info@collectiveownership.co.uk
Follow us for updates on Instagram @collectiveownership