About
Our journeys towards this housing co-operative, now called Perennial, began in early 2024. The name came out of many a discussion, and symbolises the project as a form of queer legacy – here for the long-term in ever more stable cycles of renewal. We want a nest that can care for us throughout the years, that matures into a provider for communities beyond us in the future.
Just as a perennial plant survives through summers and winters, so too do we have times of wintering and of flourishing. Perennial makes space to rest, to support each other when sick, embraces activism and low-income work that is not tolerated by a capitalist system.
Perennial Housing Co-op is a new, fully mutual housing co-op. We are looking for a home for 6-10 people in NE London and are proud 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 from the International Cooperative Alliance, 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.
Housing co-operatives are different to many forms of shared ownership we have become used to in the UK. We’re often asked how much of the property each of us will own, how much we might get back if/when we leave. But equity as security, requiring constantly rising land value to ensure a return on our investment, is not the relationship we want with our home.
Instead of buying a slice each, our housing co-operative is set up as a separate legal entity that will buy and own the house in perpetuity. As tenants, we are directors of the co-operative business. We are responsible for keeping the numbers in balance and paying back all mortgages & loans (liabilities) the co-op takes out to purchase and maintain our home.
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.
We are a ‘fully mutual’ housing co-op in order to ensure that all members have decision-making rights, and responsibilities. This also means that no stakeholders other than tenants have a right to make decisions that affect tenancies.
And what is Radical Routes?
Radical Routes is a secondary co-op - an awesome network of co-ops and their individuals that works to change capitalist, materialist relations to housing & work. It is an anarchist organisation and the best example we have experienced of a super effective and caring ‘do-ocracy’ – if something needs doing, why not do it?
Radical Routes already word it beautifully:
We want to see a world based on equality and co-operation, where people give according to their ability and receive according to their needs, where work is fulfilling and useful and creativity is encouraged, where decision making is open to everyone with no hierarchies, where the environment is valued and respected in its own right rather than exploited.
We want to take control over all aspects of our lives. However, as we are not all in a position of control we are forced to compromise in order to exist.
We are working towards taking control over our housing, education and work through setting up housing and worker co-ops, and co-operating as a network.
Explore more about the aims and principles of Radical Routes or an introduction to Radical Routes on our website.
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.