news Derelict and unused land at Cashes Green

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1 news Autumn 2007 Issue 9 First steps on the property ladder Good news for people who thought they would never be able to step onto the property ladder. CDS Co-operatives has persuaded the government s regeneration agency, English Partnerships, to allow the development of a new form of housing co-operative, to bridge the growing gap between renting and home ownership. The new type of co-operative is called a mutual home ownership society, and is designed to help people on average incomes to own part of the equity in their home. Homes are built on land that is held as a communityowned asset, so the co-op members pay only for the cost of building them. The land belongs to a community land trust, which is set up to ensure that the housing remains affordable for ever. Through their monthly payments residents buy units of equity, and when they leave, they keep 90 per cent of any increase in the value of the units they own (the rest goes back into the co-op). Derelict and unused land at Cashes Green Subject to approval from the Housing Minister (which we expect soon), English Partnerships will work with CDS Co-operatives and Gloucestershire Land for People Ltd, the local community land trust we have helped to set up, to develop the pilot project at Cashes Green in Stroud, Gloucestershire. A total of 77 new homes will be built on the site of a disused hospital. 50 of these will remain as affordable housing in perpetuity, cross-subsidised by the sale of the other 27 properties, on the open market. David Rodgers, executive director of CDS Co-operatives, says: It is great news that English Partnerships is supporting the development of a co-operative, community-led, sustainable approach to affordable housing provision. We believe that this is the future for affordable housing, and we are delighted at the widespread interest in this co-operative approach, at a time Continued on page 3 Inside this issue Welcome home to Hazel 2 Improving our services 2 Green light for Sanford 3 Homeswapper scheme 3 CDS people, Rosa Wright and Lisa Jaldoo 4 New rules on pets 5 CCH Conference 6 Complaints 6 This newsletter and other documents can be made available in other languages or in large print or audio tape. Please phone the Help Desk for more information on

2 2 CDS Co-operatives news Welcome home to Hazel Tenants of Hazel Housing Co-operative, whose properties were devastated by fire after a lightning strike last July, are back in their homes at last. Some houses had to be almost rebuilt from scratch, which is why the work has taken nearly a year. Welcome back party Hazel properties: back to normal Hazel HC members organised a welcome home party on the estate, with a disco, face painting, bouncy castles, games and competitions. Maria McCarron, our housing services manager, officially welcomed the residents back on behalf of CDS Co-operatives, and everyone had a great time. Improving our services At CDS Co-operatives we have a duty to provide the best possible services to all our service users and continually aim to improve all aspects of the service. It is therefore important that we hear the views of as many people as we can. If you would like to join the panel of people who help us review our services, please let us know. We will invite you to one meeting every month for six months. Each meeting will take no more than three hours, and we will provide lunch and pay for your travel. We are also reviewing our services to the estates. These include cleaning, gardening and removal of rubbish, maintenance, provision of gas and electricity in shared areas, and involving tenants in making decisions about the estates. If you are interested in being involved in this review please get in touch. For more information, please contact Maria McCarron, the housing services manager, on

3 3 CDS Co-operatives news Green light for Sanford Sanford Housing Co-operative in South London continues to do its bit to cut its carbon emissions. The heating systems have been installed bio-mass boilers are used in winter and the solar tubes in summer. They automatically switch from one to the other as the weather changes. New and bigger skylights are reducing the need for artificial lighting, and have electronically controlled ventilation that can sense rainy conditions and shut the windows. The co-op collects rainwater for its gardens and uses eco-paint inside and out. New kitchens use flooring, worktops etc from sustainable materials. The co-op has also installed monitors to show how much energy each household uses, and the different houses will compete in reducing energy use. All this greening has attracted the attention of the British Satellite News channel: see its video about the work at Sanford at and search sanford. Homeswapper scheme If you wish to swap your home through a mutual exchange arrangement you can use to exchange homes. HomeSwapper is a new government scheme which has replaced moveuk. HomeSwapper is easy to use. You will need to register your details which can then be compared with other information held on computer to find a Cutting down on junk mail You can opt out from junk mail delivered by the Royal Mail. Contact them by at [email protected] suitable match. You must re-register even if you were registered under the previous scheme. Registration is free if you register now. This may, however, change in future. The system will automatically compare details of every new property added to the list of properties against your requirements and it will make sure you are alerted by or text message to your mobile phone. Please let others in your co-op know about this scheme. You can also stop some junk mail from direct marketing companies. Visit.mydm.co.uk or call Continued from page 1 First steps on the property ladder when housing is coming to the top of the political agenda. English Partnerships is committed to encouraging new ways of delivering affordable homes, and has agreed in principle to support the proposal, which has been developed in consultation with the local community in Stroud. Because this is such an innovative project, it needs the endorsement of the Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper MP. David Warburton, English Partnerships director for South-West England, says: We welcome this approach for a community land trust pilot project. It provides for significantly lower entry prices for home ownership in perpetuity and it will help us achieve high quality, well designed, sustainable and affordable places for people to live. For more information, see the section dedicated to community land trusts and mutual home ownership in the library section of our website ( To register with the Mailing Preference Service and remove your name from up to 95% of direct mail lists in the UK, phone or go online at Help Desk

4 4 CDS Co-operatives news CDS People Rosa Louisa Wright, MBE Rosa Wright has been the secretary of New Cut Housing Co-operative, in the Waterloo area of London, since it was formed in Norfolk-born and bred, she has always been involved in church and community activities: as a schoolgirl, she was in the Brownies and Girl Guides, and later joined the Red Cross; during the war she would have volunteered in the Civil Nursing Reserve if her job had not prevented her. For most of her working life she retired in 1979 Rosa was a civil servant, in Cambridge, Oxford and then London. She remembers her time as a staff welfare officer in the 1960s and 1970s as one of the best of her career. The Home Office clearly thought so too: in 1979, she was awarded an MBE for her work there. Rosa Wright: In a co-op one can live alone but not be lonely In 1982 Rosa moved to Waterloo, to work as a warden at the Christian Alliance Centre, a voluntary organisation providing hostel accommodation for students and young people. She worked there for 10 years, and when she joined New Cut Housing Co-operative in 1991, it was in her hostel that the co-op held its training sessions. At New Cut s first management committee meeting in March 1992, she was elected co-op secretary and has been so ever since. She is now also its maintenance officer, as well as being a member of CDS s Housing Services Sub-Committee. Before joining New Cut HC Rosa did not know much about co-operatives but has since gained a vast wealth of knowledge. She says she enjoys co-op living because of the mutual care and concern members have for one another. In a co-op one can live alone but not be lonely, she says. As a good motto for co-op living, she quotes the old hymn: I shall pass through this world but once Any good thing that I can do, any kindness that I can show Let me do it now For I shall not pass this way again. Lisa Jaldoo, lettings officer Lisa Jaldoo: Co-ops give tenants a bigger say As our lettings officer, Lisa Jaldoo is one of the best-known members of staff at CDS Co-operatives. When she started at CDS in 1989, we had a very small office in Stockwell, where she worked in the finance department. Later, she became the lettings officer and completed her housing qualifications. Lisa remembers how friendly and peaceful her South London street was when she was growing up. In those days people cared about their neighbourhood and looked after each other, she says. Like many people, she did not know much about co-ops before working for CDS Co-operatives. The best thing about co-ops, she says, is how they offer tenants a bigger say in what happens to their homes.

5 5 CDS Co-operatives news News for animal lovers Until recently CDS tenants were not allowed to keep pets without asking permission, but unfortunately many tenants ignored this. Some were even keeping dogs in flats without gardens, which was technically a breach of their tenancy. But rather than take them to court, we have decided to make the policy simpler. Now you can keep a pet without asking for permission first, but you will have to stick to our rules on how many and what type of pets you can keep. Please be aware that we will take action when a pet is being mistreated, neglected or allowed to cause a nuisance. The policy applies only to CDS tenants and not to tenants of our client co-operatives. Animals you are allowed to keep as pets: Larger mammals such as dogs and cats (two). Smaller mammals such as rabbits and guinea pigs (four). Rodents, fish, cage birds and other small animals such as snakes, insects and reptiles (no specific limit, but they must be adequately housed and not cause a nuisance due to the noise or smell). Animals you are not allowed to keep as pets: Jenny Wilkinson and daughter: people should not keep animals unless they re prepared to be responsible Farm animals, including sheep, pigs, cows or horses. Birds, except small caged birds such as parrots, budgerigars and parakeets. Wild animals, including foxes, otters or badgers. Dangerous animals, as listed in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act These include monkeys, some spiders and venomous snakes. Any breed of dog prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, including Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino (Argentinian mastiff), Fila Brasiliero (Brazilian mastiff) and Japanese Tosa (Sumo dog). We will take action against you if: you keep too many animals. you mistreat an animal. you fail to control an animal. you fail to prevent your pets from fouling the common areas of the estate. your animals make excessive noise. your animals are aggressive. you are running any business that involves keeping animals in the property. We will take action to stop the nuisance from animals including evicting you or removal of the animal. We would also advise you not to feed wild animals such as rats, pigeons and foxes. Remember, you are legally obliged to provide your pet with: A proper diet, including fresh water. Somewhere suitable to live. The ability to express normal behaviour. Protection from and treatment of, illness and injury. For more information please visit our website or telephone the customer services helpdesk on

6 6 CDS Co-operatives news CCH Conference 2007 Printed by on 50% recycled paper Front row right to left; Stephen Miller and Theresa Lyon of Senacre HC; interesting to meet people The Confederation of Co-operative Housing, the national organisation for housing co-operatives, held its 14th annual conference in Blackpool between 8th and 10th June. The theme of the conference was tenant control community democracy. The conference was opened by the mayor of Blackpool and was attended by 310 people from housing co-ops, tenant management organisations (TMO s), Community Gateway Associations, support and agency staff. Some of our board members and staff, along with members from Darent and Senacre Housing Co-operatives, attended the conference. It was really interesting to meet so many people from so many different housing co-ops and TMO s and I thoroughly enjoyed the different workshops which were offered, said Theresa Lyons of Senacre Housing Co-operative and a member of our board. If you would like further information on the conference please go to the CCH website at To join us on our service review panels, please contact Maria McCarron, the housing services manager on or [email protected] CDS Co-operatives, 3 Marshalsea Road London SE1 1EP Help Desk Don t be afraid to complain If you are dissatisfied in any way with our services, you must let us know. Your complaints show us where we are falling down and what we need to do to rectify the problem. Write to us at 3 Marshalsea Road, London SE1 1EP telephone [email protected] Help Desk