The story so far
Green Wood Housing Coop was set up as a housing coop in 2018, and the original members of the coop moved into our house on Roundhay Mount in Leeds in early 2019. A huge amount of organisational and practical work was necessary to make the house possible, and lots of friends, family, members of other coops and community members joined in to make the coop as practically functional, environmentally sustainable and affordable as possible!
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We bought our property in 2019 in the Chapeltown area of Leeds. It is a semi-detached Victorian house over 4 floors, with six bedrooms, a sunny kitchen diner and small back garden. We were able to buy the house using a £30,000 grant, £80,000 in loanstock, and agreeing a £210,000 mortgage with Ecology Building Society.
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Since moving in in 2019, members have done significant renovations to improve the energy efficiency of the property. We have built furniture, deep cleaned, created growing spaces in the garden and worked with local contractors to ensure the property is suitably and safely maintained.
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Our long-term vision for the property has been to convert the basement (currently used for storage) into a multipurpose communal space. Currently, the kitchen-diner serves as the only indoor space for members and our wider community to socialize. Converting the basement will enable space for co-working, holding meetings and workshops, hanging out, and exercising; we also plan to include shower facilities to relieve pressure on the single current bathroom. This space will benefit members of the co-op, but most importantly it will enable Green Wood to play a more significant role in the local and wider community, allowing us to host meetings and events. We like to share our space and regularly host members of other coops, people attending events, and friends who are passing through town. Having an additional room and bathroom will support us to welcome more people into our home. Insulating this space will also improve the energy rating of the house and thus reduce the interest rate on our mortgage. In asking for investment, we aim to secure the funds to complete this basement refurbishment.
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The current membership includes one of Green Wood’s founding members, plus five newer members. We work together to run the co-op through monthly business meetings, meeting in smaller working groups, and taking part in regular DIY weekends. We all take part in ongoing conflict prevention processes, and have recently engaged collectively with anti-oppression education. We’re working on ways to bring together our day to day lives and our vision as a co-op.
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CV19 has certainly been a difficult time for the co-op; everyone has put in a great deal of effort to be sensitive to the needs of others and to support each other. Despite some under-occupancy due to CV19, the resilience of our financial model has been proved, and we’re pleased to be on track with our 40 year financial plan.
The original members of Green Wood Housing Coop were Josh, Annmarie, Caleb, Hazel, Kai and Gauthier. They set up the coop, coordinated the purchase of the house and moved in together in 2019.
