WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN A HOUSING CO-OP?
Unfortunately at the moment, we don't have any properties available to apply for. West End Housing co-operative is a small, friendly, not for profit housing organisation that offers decent housing at affordable rents. We are a very small coop and have a total of 12 properties of various sizes in the Arthur’s Hill area of Fenham. These are all let on a one tenant/membership per property basis (this does not mean families or partners cannot also live in the property or attend meetings, however there is only one membership vote per property and one name on tenancy agreement).
As a co-op we are self-governing and each tenant member plays a role on the management committee. Every-one who lives in the co-op also volunteers some of their time towards managing the monthly organising of co-op business, including; finances, repairs and administration.
A new co-op member will be selected upon housing needs but, just as importantly, upon some of who we feel would be most suitable to the well-being of the co-op.
We look for people who are looking to stay in the co-op for the long term; who will want to invest time and effort in ensuring the well-being of the co-op over a long period of time and for future tenants.
The process for applications is as follows-
Step 1- Advert for our property is put on website, sent out to local community organisations, shared on social media and networks. The deadline is set for applications to be received by.
Step 2 - We arrange an open house event - This is held at the property we are advertising which gives people applying a chance to look at the property but also to meet a couple of existing members to ask any questions they may have.
Step 3 - Deadline and first allocations meeting of coop- This is where we read the applications and narrow down the list of people to visit. This is a difficult process as we can't always visit everyone, but we look at each person's housing need, how they would fit into the roles in the coop. We then decide who will make these visits and contact everyone to either let them know they weren't successful or arrange to visit them.
Step 4 - We do the visits in pairs. Where someone isn't able to have us visit them where they currently live/stay, we arrange to meet in a cafe or similar. This visit allows us to find more about the person- we can check the documents for rent and right to live in the UK, and we can perhaps clarify things that aren't clear on the initial application.
Step 5 - Final allocations meeting. We report back from our home visits with the different people we have seen, and at this meeting we decide on the person who is successful. This is done by voting. We will call the successful person and offer them the property. If for any reason they decline, the property is then offered to the next person from the vote. We will contact the applicants who are not successful to let them know.
Step 6 - Tenancies begin on a Monday, and the tenancy contract will be created for the Monday of the week the person moves in. The new member can move in as soon as the property is ready for them and contract is signed- this date is to be agreed with our repairs officer.
The process is very hard for our coop members and we always have a lot of very deserving people who apply. Unfortunately it is very difficult to select just one and we appreciate the patience and understanding of all the people who apply.
We do have properties coming up every now and then- to keep informed of property becoming available, give our Facebook page a follow.