Stroud Housing Commons looking for tenants for its first house

At Stroud Housing Commons, we’re looking for a tenant for our first house – and you can add yourself to the waiting list for future commons houses.

Express your interest.

What is Stroud Housing Commons?

A housing commons is a partnership with different classes of member – including tenants, investors, stewards (members who are paid to manage the scheme and maintain the properties) and ‘custodians’, who make sure that commons principles are adhered to. It’s a way of providing good-quality, affordable housing with secure tenancies. Houses in a housing commons are owned by the community in perpetuity, not by individuals or businesses (even co-operative businesses) or the state / local authority.

Stroud is the first place in the country to use commons principles plus a new funding model to bring housing into community ownership without mortgages or debt to the banking system.

More information on housing commons.

What’s the house like?

It’s a three-bedroom terraced house in one of the most popular roads in Stroud, walking distance from the High Street and train station, 2-minutes walk from a great pub, with great views from the top floor and beautiful countryside walks from the end of the street.

More info here.

What are the benefits for tenants?

As there’s no profit for landlords involved, rents (and deposits) are affordable. Tenants become full members of the commons, and can participate in decision-making. This means security of tenure (no notices to quit in 2 months). Tenancies can be passed on to kids.

Future houses

From next year, Stroud Housing Commons will be producing portfolios for investors, to bring in money to buy more properties. But housing commons groups will remain small and human scale. Rather than continuing to grow, each housing commons group will generate more local groups, so that each neighbourhood can have its own housing commons.

Put yourself on the waiting list here.