The pink house on the left has been a housing cooperative since 2001

Take control of your housing: set up a Housing Co-op

A free seminar on how to set up a housing co-operative will run this Tuesday evening, 29 April at the Friends Meeting House, South Terrace, Hastings. 

Artist and housing co-operative member, Emily Johns

St Leonards resident and Peace News co-editor Emily Johns tells the story of Walden Pond Housing Co-op (going since 1998, owning property in central St Leonards since 2001); explains how to set up your own housing co-op; and describes the extraordinary Radical Routes network of radical housing and worker co-ops (and social centres).

There will be an exhibition about Radical Routes, which has been going since 1988, helping low-income and unemployed activists across the UK take control of their housing. Since 1991, Radical Routes has made over 40 loans to member co-ops, totalling over £770,000, and leveraging a further £1.5m of finance from mainstream lenders. The latest edition of the RR booklet, ‘How to Set Up a Housing Co-op’, will be on sale at the meeting.

Emily Johns has been involved for many years in Radical Routes’ Co-op Support Group, supporting new groups which are forming co-ops and joining the RR network.

“The contribution that Radical Routes has made to the development of co-operation in the UK can not be overstated.” – Graham Mitchell, Total Coverage / Southampton Area Co-operative Development Agency

The seminar is at 7pm on Tuesday 29 April
Friends Meeting House, 5 South Terrace, Hastings TN34 1SA

To find out more about housing co-operatives, visit www.radicalroutes.org.uk

Also in: Home Ground