CCH - our history

CCH – our timeline

CCH – our history

Celebrating our 30^th year of existence, the Confederation of Co-operative Housing (CCH) was founded in 1993 and is the UK organisation representing housing co-operatives, tenant-controlled housing organisations and regional federations of housing co-ops.

The formation  of CCH was born out of a group called the ‘Concerned Co-operators’ who had been active in the National Federation of Housing Co-operatives (NFHC) which had been formed in 1981 but closed down in 1992.  The group could not countenance a movement without a membership body to represent their hopes and support their co-operative efforts. So, as soon as NFHC closed, members of Two Piers, Clays Lane, Southsea Self-Help, Brockley Tenants, West Hampstead, Homes For Change and Co-op Home Services got together to form a steering group.

The group organised conferences, along with newsletters and many meetings on sitting room floors, to hammer out the constitution and the new body – the Confederation of Co-operative Housing – arrived on 12 September 1993, and was incorporated in 1994.

As a voluntary organisation, once incorporated, CCH had a governing body, ‘the General Council’, with 35 board members based on regional, special interest federations and larger representations. Even though it was volunteer-led it established a high profile within the housing sector as the leadership body for co-operative housing.

Our first CCH Annual Conference was held in 1995, with housing co-operatives coming along to see how the organisation could support the growing movement.  Our first major report launch, Tenants in Control, came in 1995.

In 2011 the General Council agreed that CCH should be reviewed to look at a more formal role for the organisation so that it could support the growing movement.  ‘Shaping the future’ was a review of  our structure and mission. Co-funded by Midcounties Co-op, and East of England Co-op, the final report confirmed that a complete restructure was required.

In 2012, the General Council agreed CCH’s new governance arrangements, a new detailed membership plan and offer, along with a new business plan, to create a sustainable future for the organisation. A new mission and vision was launched and updated values and objectives produced.  These were agreed by our members at the AGM in July 2013.

CCH now has 12 serving Board members, many of whom have lived or worked in housing co-operatives.  Our first official Chair of the Board was Paula Farrow, Chair of Minster Housing Co-operative in Kent.  She stood down in 2023 after her term ended and was replaced by our current Chair, Martyn Holmes from Bunker Housing Co-operative in Brighton.

CCH has provided advice and support to its members and to groups starting up co-operative and other community led housing organisations for over 22 years, along with:

• publication of the Code of Governance for Housing Co-operatives and Community Led Housing Organisations;
• publication of subsidiary guidance for our members including Governance and Management, Financial Planning, Active Membership, Complaints Handling and Achieving and Measuring Value for Money;
• maintenance of a substantial database of model policies and procedures;
• publication of model rules for general meeting governed housing co-operatives, leaseholder land co-operatives, mutual home ownership societies, Registered Provider housing co-operatives and tenant management co-operatives;
• delivery of training and accreditation programmes for housing co-operatives and community led housing advisors;
• delivery of bespoke advice and support services including climate change and retrofitting, organisational health checks, conflict resolution, policy and rules reviews, performance management, membership and involvement, business planning, financial control and management, leadership and development;
• creation of the Wayshaper options planning tool and associated resources for advisors working with new community led housing organisations and, currently in development, the Wayshaper Sustainable Development Goals planning tool.

Today, with over 200 housing co-operatives in membership, CCH exists to promote viable forms of co-operative, mutual and community led housing. It assists its members in enhancing their governance, delivering excellent services and in planning for the future as well as providing networking and learning opportunities through its annual conference, member forums and training programmes.

CCH is committed to working with its partners in the UK. It has a long established partnership with the national tenant organisations, NFTMO, TAROE and TPAS, and more recently it was a founding member of Community Led Homes with CLT Network, Locality and the UK Cohousing Network. CCH is also committed to working internationally, and our Chief Officer is a Board member of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and is the Treasurer of Co-operative Housing International (the ICA global housing sector body).