A scalable model that grows with every home.

We mutualise assets and investment capacity to deliver projects at scale. Residents retain control over how they live. Each new project builds economic power, expanding our collective influence on the housing system.

Three building blocks

Social investors

Provide capital

Individuals, organisations, and residents have flexible ethical investment options.

Collective Ownership

Acquires properties

which remain outside of the speculative market in perpetuity.

Residents

Control their homes

organised as housing co-ops, and as members of Collective Ownership.

The financial and legal scaffold

Walkthrough

Collective Ownership raises capital

Investment from individuals, organisations and residents with flexible terms and high social impact.

It acquires land and properties

New build or existing stock, identified by resident groups. Over time our scale unlocks better leverage and bank finance.

Properties are leased to a co-op

Residents organised as a housing co-operatives, each with their own unique character and values.

Residents control the day-to-day

Everything is democratically decided by residents – from maintenance to new members, and how the rent is apportioned.

Lease rent funds more homes

Not-for-profit. Surplus is recycled to grow the portfolio of secure, resident-controlled homes.

Property Strategy

Works with new build and existing stock

Caters for a broad range of households seeking security, stability, and belonging

Small block /
Villa

Large Block /
Cohousing

Shared House

Scattered /
Local Area

FAQ

On how it works

How is The Collective Ownership Society incorporated?

The Collective Ownership Society (COS) is an FCA-registered Co-operative society. It operates as a secondary housing co-operative (a co-op of co-ops), where lessee-members are resident groups as co-op corporate bodies. COS acts as high impact and efficient investment vehicle to grow resident-controlled housing. It is not-for-profit, commonly-owned and democratically controlled by its Member Co-ops.

How does Collective Ownership work in more details?

The Collective Onwership model hinges on separating the functions of:

Day-to-day housing management and the lived experience, which is kept in the hands of residents organised as small housing co-operatives (Member Co-ops), and
Growth and replication through raising and managing funds, property acquisition and asset management. This is the role of the Collective Ownership Society.

The Collective Ownership Society (COS) is a professionally run, not-for-profit, investment and freeholder vehicle that focuses on expanding the number of homes in Collective Ownership. It operates like a property fund, raising finance to purchase properties using investments, grants and donations. Properties are held long term and leased on a rental basis to groups of residents incorporated as housing co-operatives (Member Co-ops) who control the day-to-day management of their homes. COS receives a steady income stream (the lease rent) from its members and, over time, builds an assets portfolio of properties which can be utilised for further growth and affordability. This mutual, nested arrangement ensures that control of the things that matter most to the lived experience sit close to residents, while allowing for replication and scale at the collective level.

Member co-ops are the corporate members and lessees of COS. They manage COS’ properties as housing co-operatives and issue tenancies to their own resident-members. Residents democratically control and manage their homes day-to-day, pay rent to their co-op to cover day-to-day maintenance, administrative costs and the lease rent to COS. Member co-ops also have a role in COS governance, stewarding its objects and mission.

Lease rents paid by Members Co-ops are set on the basis of real costs and not in relation to market rent. Lease rents cover the cost of capital to repay investors, the cost of major works to maintain asset value, running costs and to grow a property acquisition fund. Favourable investment terms, discounted property purchases, grants and donations all help to keep the lease rent low and make resident rents more affordable. This “cost-rent” approach brings long-term stability, predictability and affordability for residents and provides a transparent framework for the COS approach.

What is a Housing Co-operative?

A housing co-operative is a group of residents who collectively manage their housing through their own democratically run and not-for-profit housing association (incorporated as a Co-operative Society).

Every resident is both a tenant and a member of the association which allows them to effectively manage their homes as their own landlord. They democratically make decisions about repairs, maintenance, who moves in, and how the co-operative is run.

Because all members are tenants, and all tenants are members, there is never an incentive to charge more rent than necessary and enter a logic of rent extraction (as residents charge rent to themselves). Surpluses are put aside to go back into maintaining and improving the homes and the community rather than to profit an external landlord.

What are the advantages of Collective Ownership?

Collective Ownership mutualises property assets across projects, creating a financially robust, scalable and impactful model that permanently removes properties from the private speculative market. It uses a corporate structure designed to embed and protect a not-for-profit and social purpose.

Collective Ownership demonstrates demonstrates how local autonomy can meet collective economic power. Rather that creating one off, isolated housing schemes, Collective Ownership delivers permanent impact where assets and income streams are repeatedly recycled into buying more homes, transforming the market year on year.

Why can’t co-ops own the property directly?

Though creating a collective and commonly-owned asset portfolio, Collective Ownership can faciliate growth and replication.

Where individual co-ops own their properties, the potential benefits of assets owenrship is locked within the individual co-op rather than expanding affordable housing and resident-control to others. Even if a new co-op has plans for expanding as the mortgage is paid down, this is typically decades away, when the membership, capacity and ambition may have changed.

With Collective Ownership each project contributes to changing the market as a whole, and not just their own housing situation.

Isn't Collective Ownership just llke a "friendly landlord"?

While The Collective Ownership Society is the freeholder of properties, it is itself a co-operative controlled by its member. So in effect Member Co-ops pay the lease rent to their own orgsanisation and are collectively their own landlord.

There is never an incentive for Collective Ownership to increase the lease rent more than it is necessary to be financial viable and pursue its aims.

And with the delegation of agency and responsabilities over day-to-day management, there is no landlord-tenant relationship with Collective Ownership

What are the lease terms? Is it secured?

Collective Ownership issues 5-year lease means to retain the property interest (value of a capital asset), allowing it to leverage better borrowing terms and build economic power.

There is no incentive not to renew a lease, unless there is major or consistent breaches of the lease, or governance issues in your co-op which are not addressed.

Collectively, Member co-ops keep mutual checks on any Board decisions regarding lease renewales and if necessary can overturn a decision not to renew a lease at a Special General Meeting.

A social purpose alternative to the private sector.