Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: the microflat as a module in affordable inner urban design

[Jock Coats (jock.coats]

Sharon Villines wrote:

> on 7/14/2002 1:38 PM, Jock Coats at jock.coats [at] oxfordlibdems.org.uk wrote:
>  
>
> > But what if you also 'owned' what you were renting?  You would have the
> > power to control what you were paying.  Since it was not built for
> > profit the mortgage would be lower if you had to borrow to build it and
> > so on.  This is the sort of model I am looking at for Oxford -
> > co-operative co-housing.
> >    
>
> Could you explain how this would work?
>
>
> Sharon
>  
Hmmm - sort of.  They're pretty vague ideas at the moment but basically:

A group of people form a co-operative company.  That co-operative 
company buys, through borrowing of some kind, a patch of building land 
and builds on it.  Note - this could be varied depending on housing 
market pressure - you could have some of it done through grant for 
example on the basis that a proportion of housing went to households who 
would otherwise be on the local authority list or a housing association 
list for social rented housing.

You borrow less because you are building at cost, not for profit.  

You set a rent that obviously covers the repayment on the mortgage (a 
mortgage is better than a bond cos at least you are paying back capital 
over time).  Which will be less than on an ordinary mortgage because a. 
you've borrowed less and b. you're getting a really big mortgage with 
corporate backing and not just a single home.

Of course it's all barmy.  One should not have to go through so many 
hoops to acquire land and buildings to put back into the common wealth, 
but there you are.  I am working on the basis that one will have to bid 
competitively with other potential developers - but that might not, in 
fact will not, be the case.

In fact, since the land would not be being sold for profit housing it 
might even devalue the land.  But I have worked things out on the basis 
of one and a half million per acre (the going rate for for profit 
suburban housing land in Oxford) and come out with housing costing 
around £80,000 for a two bedroomed property compared with something over 
£120,000 on the 'real' market.  I guess it would be up to the community 
to work out how, or whether, to spend that extra £40,000 - on common 
facilities (and I have not factored in anything but 'full-sized' housing 
so those housing costs may fall slightly if you reduce slightly the 
private amenity level in favour of common amenities), on evironmental 
enhancements or on sinply reducing the overall cost.

Make any sense at all?

Jock

--
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+  Jock Coats, Oxford Liberal Democrats, M3a Morrell Hall, OX3 0TU  +
+       T:+44 1865 485019 M:+44 7769 695767 F:+44 845 1275714       +
+   E(pref):jock.coats [at] oxfordlibdems.org.uk Cix:jockox3 [at] cix.co.uk   +
+     W1:www.oxfordlibdems.org.uk W2:aldco.oxfordlibdems.org.uk     +
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