About
Perennial Housing Co-op is a new fully mutual housing co-op, looking to find a home for 6-10 people in NE London. We are members of the Radical Routes network.
Want to know what all those things mean? Read on…
Our Vision
Perennial Housing Co-op is here to form stable, landlord-free living conditions within the wonderful madness that is London. We are united by our search for anti-capitalist & political activism, environmental & ecological solidarity, collective & equitable control and mutual support & care. We seek to be part of a world where co-operation is the norm, not the exception.
We are building this community within and alongside growing networks of social & political change-makers. It is a long-term project, rooted in the basic, yet widely unmet need for spaces that are both cared for, and caring for, the community they serve; forever. Perennial Housing Co-op is radical, queer, welcoming, inclusive and responsive, forming a community of care beyond the nuclear family. We are sick of dead-end conversations about precarity in London. We believe we all deserve and can do so much better, so we are seizing control over the spaces we live in.
What is a co-op?
A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.
Read more about co-operative values and the 7 co-operative principles here, and more about the history of co-ops here.
What is a housing co-op?
A housing co-operative is not bricks and mortar, it is a group of people and the means they use to collectively control and manage their housing. By incorporating as a legal body, the collective can buy and own property and enter into contracts.
[Housing] co-operatives are organisations governed by the tenants / members in a way that gives grassroots control over housing. They provide rented housing without landlords, or rather the tenants are collectively their own landlord. By setting up housing co-operatives we empower ourselves to take control over one of the most fundamental aspects of our lives and in the process we transfer property out of private ownership, into either common or co-ownership.
What is a fully mutual housing co-op?
All tenants of the Co-operative must be members and all members must be tenants or prospective tenants of the Co-operative.
What is Radical Routes?
A mutual-aid network of co-ops committed to working for radical social change.
Read more about the aims and principles of Radical Routes or an introduction to Radical Routes.
For us, Radical Routes is a community, a source of inspiration and support, a source of finance to help us get the project started, and a collective network of solidarity working out how to change the world for the better.