Developing the co-operative housing movement through a Co-operatives UK Housing Group
February 2004
A primary aim of the proposed Co-ops UK Housing Group is to ensure that the co-operative movement develops a shared and united vision for co-operative housing which all parts of movement support and develop where appropriate. It is intended that through developing a shared co-operative housing agenda, the co-operative movement will start to kick its weight as a leading player in the housing and community empowerment agendas nationally, regionally and locally.
A blueprint for how this programme will be carried through will develop over time through discussion within the group. However, we propose the following items as initial priorities for consideration:
General issues internal to the co-operative movement
- a debate within the co-operative movement on community empowerment - there currently exists differing understandings of the term "community empowerment". The co-operative movement has done much within what it defines as community empowerment but within what the housing sector defines as community empowerment little has been achieved.
An output that such a debate would lead to would be a shared co-operative movement strategy for developing community empowerment and co-operative housing.
- briefing the key players in the co-operative movement on community empowerment and housing issues, particularly including co-op politicians - consideration of how to present issues relating to community empowerment and housing issues to key players within the co-operative movement, including co-operative politicians to make best use of co-operative resources in this arena.
- creating links with other social enterprise programmes - consideration of how to brief and support other social enterprise protagonists on issues relating to community empowerment and housing.
- examining resourcing issues - consideration of how best to resource the programme(s) that will emerge through the work of the Co-ops UK Housing Group. We would anticipate that many of the programmes listed below would be fundable in a variety of different ways. However, there is a need for seedcorn funding in order to develop the programmes in the first place and make relevant funding applications. It is anticipated that all programmes will be carried out through Co-ops UK.
- developing training provision - it will be important to develop courses that meet the needs of the future development of co-operative housing through the Co-operative College.
- examining the role of the Co-op Party - it will be particularly important to examine the role that the Co-op Party's councillors will have in developing co-operative housing.
The existing housing co-operative movement
- the Confederation of Co-operative Housing - consideration of the relationship between the Confederation of Co-operative Housing and Co-ops UK and how the co-operative movement may be able to assist the CCH in its role as the representative body for the housing co-op sector.
- housing co-op governance - the Housing Corporation has already expressed interest in a programme of work to disseminate governance best practice to housing co-ops (particularly in relation to the CCH's code of governance for housing co-ops and its work on how services are provided to co-ops). An early programme could be to carry out work in this area.
- housing co-op asset base - similarly, the Housing Corporation has also already expressed interest in how the housing co-operative movement could jointly use its significant asset base, and this work could be tied into the previous programme.
Wider housing related issues
- learning from other housing co-op movements - in other countries, particularly in Canada and Norway, housing co-op movements are more developed than in the UK. The group could consider whether expertise from other countries could be brought to bear in the UK.
- key worker housing - the group could consider how to disseminate and promote the CDS/NEF model for key workers referred to above, both in relation to key workers and in terms of related models to suit other circumstances.
- property development - a wider objective might be to consider whether the co-op movement could consider entering a wider property development field, whereby homes for sale, shared ownership and for rent, particularly through planning gain arrangements are done through the co-operative movement.
- community gateway - the co-operative movement, through the CCH, has already pioneered the community gateway model as a means of establishing a large scale structure within community empowerment opportunities are offered to tenants and communities (primarily through local authority stock transfer and ALMOs). The Co-ops UK Housing Group could be a means of monitoring progress on community gateway developments; of promoting the model to tenants, members and officers; and of liaising with Government on ensuring that community gateway opportunities are properly presented to all tenants and communities.
- engaging with Community Empowerment Networks - work done through the TCC campaign has shown that there is interest in community empowerment networks in the housing co-op movement's approach to community empowerment. Community Empowerment Networks are a new forum within which the co-operative movement's messages might be disseminated and the group could consider how to further this objective.
- general liaison with relevant stakeholders - the group could also co-ordinate approaches to engagement with other politicians, and other relevant statutory and non-statutory bodies (including for example, the ODPM, the Housing Corporation, the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, the Active Communities Unit and others). It is proposed that, following initial discussions within the co-operative movement on its vision for a co-operative housing agenda that representatives from external organisations be invited onto the group to bring in particular expertise and ensure that the co-operative movement becomes properly connected to relevant areas of Government.
- developing community empowerment staff - the group could consider how to set up training courses for tenants and community members who may wish to trained to become community empowerment workers in the future.
