Consultation FAQs

The results of the consultation will be reviewed by each MC and CSS in March 2025. All members will receive an update on the outcomes and next steps in April 2025.

Please complete the survey www.surveymonkey.com/r/KKS6D6K which provides lots of opportunity to comment and give your views so that we get a full picture of all member views, ideas and concerns. What you say in the survey will form the basis of the key findings and recommendations from the consultation, so it is important that all members complete this!

Talk to us! Let us know through the survey so that we can get in touch. Let us know if there is any particular area that you are interested in (e.g. repairs, allocations, membership). Following the consultation there will be an implementation phase when people like you should be shaping the detail of the new organisation and how it will operate.

You have an important role to play in your co-op. As a member of a housing co-op, you are expected to find a way to participate in the life of the co-op, and in this sense participation has always been mandatory. Active membership sets the co-operative model apart from other housing models where members do not have the ability to make decisions or take part in the day-to-day running of their homes.

There are lots of ways to get involved and “do your bit”. This includes attendance at meetings, organising social events, looking after the laundry room or garden, consulting with fellow members, helping to induct new members or standing for election for a formal role within the co-op.

We all know that health, family and work pressures ebb and flow. There will be times when members will have to take a step back, and other times when members can step up. Your co-op needs you. You should be able to say how you have played your role in supporting the co-op over the years. Under the new arrangements we are planning to strengthen how members are encouraged, supported and expected to be active members through training, door knocking, workshops and other ways. If you have suggestions around this, please share these with us.

The new organisation will still be a coop. That means each member has a say in decision-making. The proposed Active Membership Policy is about creating a range of ways that members can do this, have your voice heard and shape the new cooperative. Again, examples are set out in the Handbook which includes themed committees that you could be a part of.

The coop will also have general meetings and provide a range of ways to provide feedback, views and ideas. You are expected to take an active role as a coop member and providing your views will be just one way of doing this. All themed committees will feed into the new MC providing a voice for your views at the strategic decision-making level.

All properties will be considered equally in terms of meeting the Decent Homes Standard across the new co-operative, which may change timelines for improvements like bathrooms and kitchens. The combined business plan incorporates the plans for kitchen and bathroom refurbishment that are included in Redwood, Palm and Iroko’s individual business plan.

Currently, some responsibilities are provided by your co-op (such as internal maintenance and kitchen/bathroom upgrades and repairs) and some are provided by Coin Street (such as building and property maintenance including windows and doors).

The proposal is for all repairs and maintenance to be managed by a single managing agent rather than split between the managing agent and Coin Street. Members will help draw up the repairs specification and standards for the new organisation, which will include how repairs are checked and monitored.

The combined co-operative will need to agree and publish a Rent Setting Policy. This must comply with the government’s regulatory requirements for rent setting. At the moment, the practice of rent setting is broadly similar across Iroko, Palm and Redwood co-ops.

Any rent charged in any property will continue to be at social rent levels, as set by regulation. So it is unlikely that rents would differ significantly in any case. Rent levels in the business plan for the combined co-op have been modelled to increase in line with inflationary increases (and within the social rent cap).

This has not featured in our discussions so far. If members have specific ideas and suggestions about what this could look like, we welcome hearing more about this so it can be considered further.

This is set out in the Handboook in Section 3.1 An Election Sub-committee, made up of three tenant members and two independent members, will oversee the selection of Management Committee members. Applications to join the Management Committee will first be reviewed by the Election Sub-committee to ensure members have the necessary skills, ability and commitment for the role.

The opportunity to stand for the MC will be encouraged across the membership, and we know that training will be important to support members to take up the opportunity.

An election will then be carried out for members to choose between the candidates on a one-member-one-vote basis

The five independent Management Committee members will also be chosen based on the particular skills, knowledge and expertise that the co-op needs. These may include essential skills around finance, legal advice, asset management, governance or compliance.

It has not been decided whether MC members will be paid and your views on this are welcomed.

This is a detail that will need to be determined in the next phase. Hearing your view on whether you think “local” control should be retained over parking, meeting rooms, gardens would be good to know. So please tell us more about why you think this should (or should not) be retained under the new arrangements, and how you would see this working.

One of the housing experts we asked for advice early in this process commented,

“Eight organisations, four of which are Registered Providers (RP’s), four leases, four management agreements, the time and the ongoing efforts of a significant number of volunteer members are all required under the current arrangements for the management of 164 homes.

While the logic of individual decisions that led to these arrangements came from a sound basis, looking holistically, particularly from an outside perspective it appears far from ideal”.

We are confident that having decision makings sitting in one place, rather than several, will offer clearer and more accountable governance for tenant members.

Governance arrangements will be bolstered by an Elections Sub-Committee; oversight will be supported by an independent Scrutiny Committee to ensure tenants’ interests are being looked after; and sub-committees will be set up on issues such as maintenance, allocations and asset management.

Using the individual co-ops and CSS business plans as a starting point and plotting them over the next 30 years, a merged business plan has been built which shows that the combined co-operative is financially viable. The summary of which can be found here https://www.coinstreet.org/business-plan-summary

In interpreting the information provided by the co-ops, the plan allows for a compliant level of repairs maintenance and cyclical work of the buildings and a ‘decent home’ level of kitchen and bathroom and replacement which may not be possible long term with the co-ops existing independently

There may be efficiencies that can be achieved through economies of scale on contracts; value for money through procurement; and possible avoidance of duplication through maintenance being managed by one entity. We have not built any of these efficiencies into the financial modelling of this proposal, so if these can be achieved, they would improve the position outlined in the business plan headlines.

For anyone interested in exploring the finance further, there will be a session with Coin Street’s Chief Financial Officer on the afternoon of Saturday 15th February 2025. If you would like to attend, you need to book a place by emailing paulk.caths@gmail.com

The working name is ‘Coin Street Housing Co-operative’. The actual name is yet to be decided.

We propose to merge Palm, Iroko and Redwood Housing Co-ops and CSS into one combined stronger tenant-led primary housing co-op. Its working name is the Coin Street Housing Co-operative. 

All of us as individual co-ops are struggling in different ways. It is much tougher to run a small housing co-op in 2024 than it was 30 years ago when CSS built its first housing co-op. In particular, keeping up with much tougher regulations and making the finances work are two major reasons why it makes sense to join forces now and come together as one.

It is our belief that the current arrangements are not fit for purpose and that, without change, one or more of our co-ops will fail in the next few years. We have an opportunity to build a stronger co-op together if we act now.

If we do not act, we are signing up to decline followed by failure in the coming years. Having beaten the odds to secure land and build a community of social housing here on the South Bank, we must protect and defend this so it is here for generations to come.

We began a review of how co-op housing at Coin Street works in 2022. You might remember representatives from Coin Street coming to one of your general meetings to discuss this, or you may have attended one of the workshops we organised to hear your experiences. In these discussions you told us change was needed, and we listened.

Since then, we have been working with a group of co-op members from Palm, Iroko and Redwood to explore how things could be improved and, more recently, how a combined co-op might work. The proposals are the ones we are consulting with you on now.

Your new landlord will be the combined Coin Street Housing Co-operative. This will be a fully mutual, tenant-led housing co-operative. They will issue your tenancy, collect your rent, and arrange your repairs. Coin Street Housing Co-operative will be overseen by the Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman, as is currently the case.

The main difference will be that instead of the members of the co-op only being from your building, the co-op will be made up of members from across Palm, Iroko and Redwood, and your Management Committee will be formed of tenants from across the three co-ops.

We propose that a transition period of approximately a year will be needed once a decision is taken. During this time, we will establish the combined co-op to run alongside the existing one in “shadow” form so that there can be a smooth handover. When the new co-op is ready to start operating fully, a new tenancy will be issued to each tenant through the combined Coin Street Housing Co-operative and the long lease between CSCB and CSS will transfer to the new co-op. There will be no gap, so every tenant will always have a valid tenancy.

Once the combined co-op has issued tenancies and holds the lease, there will be no reason for the individual co-ops to continue as legal entities, but it may be useful to retain individual co-op working groups to deal with unique aspects of each co-op, for example managing the meeting room at Palm, looking after the gardens at Iroko, and dealing with parking or the commercial tenants at Redwood. 

You are currently charged social rent, and this will not change. Your new tenancy will be based on you being charged a social rent for the duration of your tenancy. Social rent and service charges are regulated by the government. Social rent is calculated according to a formula that takes into account local incomes and property values, as well as inflation rates. The government set a social rent cap that all regulated social housing providers must stick to.

Service charges fall under the control of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which sets out what is allowed and what is not in terms of charges that can be passed on to tenants.

Inflation and the costs of maintaining your home continue to rise and, as long as that is the case, rents will rise, but this will be capped and controlled by the social rent regulations. Rents and service charges will be set by the tenant-led Management Committee, as they are now. 

If you haven’t read the ‘Case for Change’ document, please do, as there is more on the benefits there. Some clear immediate benefits will include: an end to the need to renew your tenancy every five years; all your repairs and maintenance going through one organisation; the opportunity to review and revise policy around key areas such as succession rights; and more transparency and clarity about how your rent is used.

Perhaps the key benefit is the confidence that your co-op will be in the best shape to provide you with a safe, secure home for decades to come. 

A housing co-op is a group of people who manage and control the housing in which they live. Each person is a member and has a say in decision-making. All members are expected to take an active role in the running of the co-op. Supporting you to find a way you can actively contribute to the co-op is a major priority in the new arrangements.

Under the new arrangements, the new Management Committee will review many of the co-op policies, and you should take part in those exercises so you can influence the policies that matter to you. There are lots of ways you can contribute to the life of the co-op, whether it is helping out with repairs, visiting older neighbours, organising social events, looking after the garden, or joining one of the committees or working groups.

Then you should tell us, and tell us why you disagree. That does not mean that the change will not happen, but it does mean that we can better understand what needs particular thought and attention in designing the new arrangements. Tell us using the survey www.surveymonkey.com/r/KKS6D6K

No. In fact, the new tenant-led Management Committee will hold the long lease and have control over all the rental income and decision-making about the co-op. The Management Committee will consist of seven tenants and five independent members and will be elected by the membership.

These proposals will give tenant members significantly more control over every aspect of your co-op than is currently the case.

— You pay social rent, based on the government rent formula and capped

— Your home is part of a fully mutual co-op

— You will have a tenancy agreement

— You elect a Management Committee to run your co-op

— You are expected to play an active role in your co-op

— You call your Managing Agent when you need a repair

— Your home is under the supervision of the Regulator of Social Housing & Housing Ombudsman 

— Where there were four co-ops (CSS, Redwood, Iroko, Palm) there will be one combined co-op with one management committee

— You will be given an ongoing tenancy with no end date and no five year renewal

— One managing agent rather than three

— The whole co-op can use the loan finance currently only available to CSS

— All aspects of the maintenance of inside & outside of the building will be under the control of the co-op

— There will be no separate lease charge levied by CSS. All rent will be collected by the co-op & spent by the co-op, answerable to the membership