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About Us
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Southsea Self Help
Housing Co-operative
Southsea Self Help
Housing Co-operative is based in Fratton, Portsmouth.
It owns and manages 35 properties in Garnier Street,
Somers Road North and Lucknow Street. The Co-operative
is a voluntary organisation and has no paid staff. All
of the management of the Co-operative is done by its
members. In order for the Co-operative to work members
have to be prepared to undertake the various tasks involved
in the running of a housing organisation.
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What
housing does the Co-op have?
The
Co-operative's housing consists of:
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6
x 3 |
Bed
Family Houses |
5
x 2 |
Bed
Family Houses |
3
x 2 |
Bed
Family Maisonettes |
2
x 2 |
Bed
Disability Flats |
12
x 1 |
Bed
Flats |
3
x 2 |
Person
Shared Houses |
1
x 3 |
Bed
Flat |
3
x 2 |
Bed
Flats |
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Each house or maisonette/flat has its own bathroom,
kitchen area, living area, as well as the number of
bedrooms indicated. All of the houses have their own
rear garden, most of the flats have access
to shared garden areas. Car parking is very limited
at Somers Road North and Lucknow Street, whilst the
houses and flats in Garnier Street have no Co-op owned
parking areas. The properties are a mix of purpose built
units less than thirty years old and Victorian houses refurbished
within the last thirty years. In the shared housing the
individual tenant occupies their own bedroom and shares
the other facilities within the house with one
other.
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What is the Co-op looking for in an applicant?
The Co-op is self-managing, the willingness
and ability of applicants to become involved in the
working of the organisation is the most important factor taken into account.
Housing need is a secondary consideration. Therefore if you are not prepared
to become involved in the workings of the Co-op do not
bother to apply. Your application will automatically
be rejected!
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How
does the Co-op work?
The
Co-op is run by an elected Management Committee which
consists of up to 15 members. The committee is elected
annually and comprises the Officers of the Co-op, plus
how ever many other members are required to bring the
Committee up to 15 persons. The Officers are also elected
annually and have specific responsibilities for different
aspects of the Co-op's work. The
full list of Officers and their functions.
The Management Committee meets monthly to transact Co-op
business. Meetings are open to all tenants but only
Management Committee members can vote.
In addition there are two working groups - the Maintenance
Team, which assists the Maintenance Officer; the Finance
Group which assists the Treasurer in budget and rent
setting and also assists the Assistant Treasurer with
the implementing the Co-op's arrears policy; and in addition there are other temporary groups, which are formed to review policy and address other issues as they arise.
As well as the monthly Management Committee the Co-op
has occasional general meetings, which are open to all tenant members to attend and
vote, as well as the Annual General Meeting.
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How
does the Co-op select new tenant/members?
The Co-op has an allocations policy for recruiting new
tenant members. Briefly this is how it works -
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When
a tenancy becomes vacant the Co-op first offers
the vacancy internally to any existing members who
may wish to transfer.
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If
there are no internal applicants the Co-op will fill the vacancy using the allocations policy.
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The
allocations policy is a points based system and any vacancy will normally be filled by the prospective member with the greatest number of points.
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To become a prospective member an applicant will need to complete the application form to be found elsewhere on this website. All returned application forms are then checked and any applicants that do not meet the minimum criteria are rejected.
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All
applicants are invited to a minimum of three monthly meetings where they can find out more about the Co-op, the accomodation on offer, and meet the existing members of the co-operative.
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When an applicant has attended at least three meetings the co-op will then vote to accept them as a prospective member.
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Once an applicant becomes a prospective member they will be eligible for consideration for any vacancy which arise thereafter. Please be aware that acceptance as a prospective member DOES NOT guarantee an offer of housing.
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Prospective members will need to demonstrate continued commitment by attendance at monthly meetings, and will need to keep the Membership Officer up to date with any changes in their circumstances.
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Is
there any thing else I should know about
Southsea Self Help Housing Co-operative?
The
Co-operative is a fully mutual organisation. This means
that being a member is the same as being a tenant, in
other words all members have to be tenants and all tenants
are members. If selected to be a member you will have
to pay £1 to become a shareholder, this entitles
you to participate in the Co-op. THere are no dividends
paid on your share holding and when you leave the Co-op
your share is not refundable.
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