Co-operative housing to be considered for Plymouth

Could co-operative housing work in Plymouth? That’s the subject of the Co-operative Housing Workshop being organised by Plymouth City Council.

A housing co-operative is where a group of people have control over their own housing and is an alternative to traditional home renting or buying.

The Co-operative Housing Workshop will be held at Devonport Guildhall from 5pm to 7pm on Friday 1 November to introduce the idea of co-operative housing and explains the different ways homes could be owned, managed and lived in by members of the co-operative.

Cabinet member for Co-operatives and Community Development, Councillor Chris Penberthy said: “We’d like people to come along and join in the workshop discussions, tell us what they’re interested in. We’ll be talking about the potential for housing co-ops and we’d like to explore how we can help support people.

“As a co-operative Council we want to support projects where people are able to take control over their own lives. Housing co-ops are an excellent way for tenants to have control over their housing. They are working in other parts of the country as groups of people have got together to form co-ops to buy properties because sky high property prices mean they couldn’t buy individually.”

Nic Bliss from the Confederation of Co-operative Housing will be giving a presentation on how housing co-ops can work and giving examples from elsewhere in the country where they are successfully run.

This is an open event and people wishing to attend can register on: http://plymouthco-operativehousing.eventbrite.co.uk