Sanford Housing Co-operative, London
July 2001
[ Update September 2002: Sanford Housing Co-op now has its own website. ]
Sanford Housing Co-operative owns and manages the whole of 'Sanford Walk', a private street located in SE London. The street consists of 14 purpose-built shared houses and a small unit of studio flats. We are a diverse and thriving community of well over 100 individuals, hailing from a wide variety of backgrounds. We offer a unique opportunity for people to join and participate in a very social community whilst still having your own private space with your own keys.
The accommodation that we offer consists of 132 single rooms in 14 shared houses. Each house contains 8, 9 or 10 single rooms a communal kitchen, bathroom, shower and 3 toilets. Each room is partly furnished and has central heating and a sink. Our site also includes a beautiful private garden with fishponds. We regularly have a small number of vacancies available.
Members are actively engaged in running all aspects of co-operative life, from chairing meetings and managing co-op funds to interviewing & inducting prospective members. At Sanford, we encourage people to take up voluntary posts to manage such activities as the ongoing maintenance of our property & it's future development, work in the gardens, our advertising & publicity, equal opportunities and environmental issues, as well as publishing the rent arrears and the provision of furniture & household appliances. We manage the ongoing business of the co-op by holding a variety of meetings. At a 'Member's Meeting' any resident can raise issues for discussion and put forward proposals to be voted on at the monthly 'Management Meeting'. At this meeting, representatives from each house vote on any proposals previously discussed. Recent proposals have included setting up free internet access for members, boosting the advertising budget and replacing all the front doors and porch roofs. By doing this, the members not only keep control of their own housing but also have the opportunity to acquire new skills, experiences and responsibilities by actively contributing to the running of the co-op. This fulfils the primary aim of a housing co-op: to take housing out of the control of the commercial market and put it into the hands of those who actually live in it. Rental and financial administration is currently provided to the co-op by CDS (Co-operative Development Services), a secondary co-op that provides housing management services to numerous housing co-ops in and around the London area.
We actively seek applicants from all sections of the community who wish to live in a co-operative environment, regardless of gender, ethnic origin, sexuality, health status or disability. Applicants must be aged 18 or over and be in possession of a UK National Insurance number. Unfortunately, we do not have provision for wheelchair access and as Sanford is also a single person's co-operative, we are not able to provide accommodation for families or children. We run a monthly membership process that involves the applicant being invited to an informal interview at the Co-op, usually on a Tuesday evening. Followed the next Sunday, by an afternoon spent visiting each house that has vacancies. If you are interested in the advantages of participating in a housing co-op, please contact us and we will send you further information and an application form.
Sanford Housing Co-op Ltd
The Office
11 Sanford Walk
New Cross
London SE14 6NB
Tel: 020 8692 7316
Fax: 0208-694-6461
Email: sanford_coop@yahoo.com
Sanford Housing Co-op was founded by the Society for Co-operative Dwellings in 1974 and is registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965. As a fully mutual primary housing co-op we remain entirely independent of all other agencies.
