Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative Ltd. The Idea For a number of years there has been talk amongst students about creating a student housing co operative to deal with many of the housing problems that students in Edinburgh face. Edinburgh Student Housing Co operative is a group of students working to establish a wholly student owned and run housing cooperative in Edinburgh, based on the highly successful models established across North America, parts of Europe and Oceania. The group was formed following the highly successful Edinburgh University Students Association referendum question mandating EUSA to work with all interested students to establish a housing co operative. The question received the highest turnout and highest proportion of yes votes (92%) of any referendum question to date. Kirsty Haigh, EUSA Vice President, Services says that she is delighted that this project is getting off the ground and that we are taking serious steps to address the housing problems in Edinburgh. We ve tried remediation but now it s time to take matters into our own hands and take proactive steps to provide a solution. We have also been receiving enthusiastic support from Edinburgh City Council and the wider co operative movement. The group has now found well over 106 students the capacity of the property who are committed to the ideas of the cooperative and would like to live in it from September. What is a Student Housing Co-operative? A co operative is an autonomous association of people united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. In the context of student housing, as a corporate body the co operative would own or lease property with rooms available to be rented by individual members. The members would consist exclusively of tenants and prospective tenants. Membership of the co operative entitles you to a say in how the co op is run and to vote for the members of the Committee. They are different from other landlords as every member has an equal vote and say in matters affecting the management of their home.
Why is this needed? Housing can be a major issue for students, as shown by the 2,643 enquiries about housing at EUSA s Advice Place last year alone. Additionally, the influx of large numbers of students into concentrated areas, such as Marchmont, has led to discontent amongst long term residents and repeated calls for a cap on HMO properties. Private rent for students has been sharply increasing and students are having to put up with often sub standard conditions for these higher prices, making Edinburgh a particularly expensive choice for prospective students. The high living costs in Edinburgh (an average of about 360pcm according to EUSA Advice Place figures) discourage students from low and middle income backgrounds from applying, damaging the University s efforts to widen access. In addition, there is the constant problem of landlords scamming and not treating students fairly. They continue to charge illegal fees for references and administration, charge deposits about the legal limit and then refuse to return these, charge extra for cleaning costs and not carry out adequate maintenance work. These often particularly affect vulnerable International students. A student housing cooperative allows us to contribute to relieving the housing crisis in Edinburgh and to allow students to take ownership of their housing and avoid exploitation by private landlords. Structure The co operative would be a par value fully mutual, student run and managed property, which we intend to eventually own outright. As a corporate body the co operative will lease the property with rooms available to be rented by individual members. For structuring much of the day to day running of the co operative we are being advised by North American Students for Cooperation (NASCO), a federation of student housing co operatives across North America with almost 50 years of experience. The day to day functioning and cleaning of the co operative will be carried out collectively by the tenants. Everyone will equally partake in cleaning communal areas and will follow rotas drawn up by our part time staff. Each member is expected to commit several hours a week towards the running of the co operative. These are referred to as workshifts in US co ops. Working Groups
The core operations of the co operative will be run and overseen by a series of working groups, convened by officers elected by the membership. Key to the success of the groups will be ongoing training to ensure work is done to a high standard. Working groups and example jobs include: Finance and Accounting Processing payments, collecting rent, assessing financial health, maintaining books, preparing budgets. Strategy and Development Considering long term health and strategy of the project. Ensuring meetings are properly facilitated, minuted, and that minuted actions are followed through. Preparing agenda of all member meetings. Membership Choosing new members, room allocations, overseeing disciplinary procedures. Energy, Waste and Sustainability Monitoring energy use, encouraging recycling, developing solutions to reduce environmental impact. Maintenance and Health and Safety Doing basic repairs, logging maintenance issues and informing contractors, testing fire alarms, PAT testing, identifying and resolving general Health & Safety risks. Cleaning and Upkeep Maintaining and enforcing cleaning rotas, inspecting upkeep of flats and furniture, stocking supplies. IT and Communications Responsibility for internet network and office PC, managing website and social media. Beautification and Glorification Overseeing painting, decorating and gardening. Secretariat This list is not exhaustive, but other groups could be convened for things like pastoral care, ongoing training, community outreach, liberation groups (eg. womens'), and of course groups for organising social events. Convenor Committee
The convenors of the working groups will report back on their group's work and any decisions made. The wider membership can then vote to approve this report and/or air grievances. The convenors can also consult the membership on the group's upcoming work. Coordinators Coordinators will be selected who are expected to work a number of extra hours in exchange for a reduction in rent (for which we ve set aside 12,000 and reductions will be equivalent to at least the Edinburgh living wage). Their roles would include acting as a main point of contact for external bodies, holding office hours to deal with members' issues, helping to allocate work shift hours, ensuring groups/individuals are doing their set tasks, coordinating work between groups/individuals and ensuring people have fair workloads. Coordinators will report to the All Member Meetings. Governance Membership of the co operative entitles you to a say in how the co op is run and to vote for the members of the Advisory Board and Convenor Committee. The membership would consist of all current and prospective tenants, with each member holding limited liability for the co operative of 100. The constitution we are using is the Radical Routes model rules RRMF96 and as an Industrial & Provident Society we are regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Advisory Board The Advisory Board can advise the cooperative on any and all matters, but in particular finance, strategy and governance. The Board will consist of individuals appointed for their expertise and experience, alongside representatives of select organisations with a shared interest in the cooperative's success. These organisations could, for example, include Castle Rock Edinvar, Lister Housing Co operative, the University of Edinburgh and EUSA. The Board will have access to the accounts, minutes and any other documentation the Board felt relevant. External members of the Board will be appointed by the members of the cooperative and chosen for their expertise and experience. These externals will be elected for terms of at least 2 years to help facilitate against the transient nature of student tenants. All Member Meetings Regular all member meetings will be held to ensure that members are up to date and the necessary decisions can be made. Convenors of the working groups will report back on their group's work and and decisions made so the wider membership can then vote to approve this report and/or air grievances. The convenors can also consult the membership on the group's upcoming work. A section of these meetings will be a General Meeting and as such will act as
the cooperatives sovereign decision making body. Decisions made in General Meetings are binding and apply to all members. The lease We would like a 5 year lease starting in September 2014 (and access to the building from July 2014) with the ability to opt out to purchase the property at any time. If not purchased, it would then be our goal to extend the lease by another five years. The co operative would uphold and maintain, or improve, the condition of the building. Changes such as painting of rooms could be returned to the original condition on return if the option of purchasing the property isn t viable. Landlord's obligation We would like the landlord to cover insurance for the structure as is laid out in the lease held by the current tenants. In addition, we would like them to maintain the structure of the building and any larger essential repairs. Rent We are looking to pay a rental of 250,000p/a for the period of the lease with the only increases being due to inflation for which we have budgeted an RPI increase of 3% each year. Co operative members will pay their rental into our joint Edinburgh Student Housing Co operative bank account held by Triodos, and we will be encouraging them to do so by Direct Debit. We will then be paying Castle Rock Edinvar by direct debit from the cooperative account. If for some reason a member has not paid their rent then this shortfall will not be passed on but dealt with by the Co op. Regulations As the co operative is fully mutual it complies with the 1987 Housing Cooperative act s definition of a Housing Co operative, which means we are exempt from HMO regulations and payments. This has been confirmed by the City Council. All of our members and tenants will be students which therefore means they are exempt from council tax. Funding Property costs and loan conditions, alongside budgeting for development, maintenance and overheads, would then dictate the level of rent charged to member tenants.
We are applying for various community and national grants to provide extra money for bigger projects and to provide an even greater cushion in the first year. In addition, in the future we hope that Alumni will also donate towards the cooperative. Alumni donate vast amounts of money back into the University every year and this is something we hope could be tapped into. We would apply for alumni funding for larger capital projects such as improving disabled access or structural improvements. This has successfully happened in other cooperatives such as Berkeley where Alumni have donated over $2 million. Any surplus that is created by the co operative is reinvested into the Co op for future projects. Initially, money will be set aside with an aim to buy the building outright so it can be fully owned by the Co operative. Following this, the money will be needed for renovations and adaptations of the building. Partners and support We have already solicited the enthusiastic support of over 1,500 students via EUSA referendum the most popular referendum to date, the City of Edinburgh Council, the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA). We are also receiving overwhelming support from across the co operative movement, including: Staff time, logistical support and expertise from the Co operative Enterprise Hub (part of the Co operative Group). Advice and staff time from the Co operative Education Trust Scotland. Support and advice from Lister Housing Co operative Ltd., a 190 flat cooperative on Lauriston Place, Edinburgh. Advisory services from Sheffield Co operative Development Group. Significant interest shown by Scotmid Co operative Society Ltd. including small amounts of funding for one off purchases such as washing machines Logistical support from Radical Routes housing co op network. Advice on building contracts and environmental development from Co operative Renewables Ltd. Advice from the UK Society for Co operative Studies. Support and helpful advice from Students for Cooperation, a representative body for UK student coops alongside the support from pre existing Edinburgh University student cooperatives, namely the Swap & Reuse Hub (SHRUB) Co operative on Guthrie Street and The Hearty Squirrel Food Cooperative on George Square. Logistical advice from a number of student housing co operatives internationally, including North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) a federation representing over 50 student co operatives. The City Council is particularly keen on the project as part of their Cooperative Capital scheme to
develop co operative organisations in the city to deliver energy, housing, childcare and social care services.