1. Help us find a house to buy #

We’re currently looking for a property!

We’d love a group house (space for 6-10 people) in NE London (our ultimate ideal would be on Harringay Ladder, where some of us are based already), ideally “in need of modernisation” (that’s what estate agents say when it’s a bit of a wreck in need of love). We’ve got an enthusiastic architect on the team and so we’re up for (small to medium) challenges. We’re keen to retrofit and/or remodel an existing space into a warm and cosy home for non-nuclear community, so are up for re-insulating, adding renewables and minor extensions/garden building work (preferably without planning risk).

In our dreams, a seller would offer to do what’s called a “seller’s mortgage”. This is where: instead of a bank giving a buyer a mortgage, the seller does. Essentially, slowly selling the house to the buyer (normally + interest). We think this is a pretty neat concept because the buyer gets more money, the seller spends less money, and we all get to stick it to the man (the bank). (There can also be a “partial seller’s mortgage” where there is a lump sum exchange for part of the value and then the rest is slowly purchased)

If you hear of somewhere which might be a good fit for us, let us know about it!

2. Lend Perennial money #

In order to buy a house, we need money. We wish it were not so, but it is (for now), so…

One of the main reasons we legally registered as a co-op was because it gives us the right to “issue loanstock”, which is just a fancy way of saying “borrow money from people, and give them interest”.

What is Loanstock? Loanstock are fixed term loans made to the coop by individuals (for example you, your family, or your friends) or organisations (for example other co-ops). The interest rate and term (length) of the loan is mutually agreed upon by the loanstock holder and the co-operative.

This is great because it’s really important to us that there is no financial barrier to being involved in the project - there are lots of projects where a group of people pool their money and buy a house together, but this only works if you already have money.

How much, you ask? Well, realistically, we’re going to need quite a lot. We’ll publish our full financial plan very soon, which will vary depending on the space we find, but we anticipate we will need to raise at least £200K in loanstock. Any additional we can raise means that we can get a smaller mortgage (mortgage rates for co-ops are currently ~9%, so the less of that we can do the better…).

We’re incredibly flexible on the terms (how much, how many years, what interest rate, when interest in paid, etc…) which means we can work bespoke with you! But if that feels overwhelming, below we present some persona templates to spark some ideas of some of the options available.

Broadly, however, to be clear: it would help the project most if you could lend us as much money as possible, for as long as possible, for the lowest interest rate possible!

1. Pine - quick verdant growth, lush and fragrant.

Pine is not currently sure what the future holds, but very enthusiastic about the project and keen to help. They can lend £2K to Perennial for 5 years at 0% interest, excited to help get the ball rolling. Capital (£2K) repaid at end of term.

2. Walnut - hardy and vigorous, nutritious gifts year on year.

Walnut can offer £10K for 10 years, but requests 2% interest. Perennial agrees to pay interest (£200) yearly, with capital (£10K) repaid at end of term.

3. Oak - stable and wise, with mossy limbs supporting the wider ecosystem.

Oak has £120K in savings accounts and is interested in moving away from banks with dubious investments. They do need a regular income, so would appreciate 3% interest. Perennial suggests an amortised (combining capital and interest) return of £8K/year for 20 years (£160K total returned).

4. Yew - slow and steady, here for the long-term.

Yew has £30K to invest long-term and doesn’t need it back quickly, but would appreciate a relatively high rate of return (4.33%). They are looking for an alternative to pension investments, and are excited by the idea of financial support from the community to support them in later life. We agree to an amortised return starting in 35 years (once the mortgage is paid off), of £1K/month for 15 years (£180K total returned).

5. Choose your own adventure…

Let’s start a conversation…

If you’d like to see how the above values were calculated, or have a play around with calculating some values yourself, check out this spreadsheet.

We’re not quite ready to receive money yet (give us a few weeks…) but what would be super useful right now is if you could email us and let us know how much you might be able to lend, for how long, at what rate, and if/when you’d like interest paid ❤️

3. Donations #

(To be written)

4. Sign up for updates #

(To be written)