Our current rents are shown in the table below. We raise rents from time to time to make sure we can meet our mortgage obligations. The last time we did this was in 2023 and was by 7%. We aim to keep costs as low as we possibly can.
Our next rent review will likely put rents up again by between 5% and 15%. To give clarity for our new member/s coming in, the rent will be kept at the current rate for the full 6 month probationary period.
| Space | Monthly Rent |
|---|---|
| Shared House Rooms | £269-£344 depending on size of room |
| Private units | £436-£659 depending on size and number of rooms |
| Static Caravan | £281 |
The Static Caravan: We have full planning permission for our large static caravan, as “over flow accommodation”. This will continue even when the renovation in the house is finished.
Other resources which are shared by arrangement are the greenhouse, polytunnels, conservatory, laundry, library, events room, and possibly a guest room. Communication and negotiation are always important. Having part of the grounds and garden as “your own” is also negotiable. Some members have their own sheds or workshops rather than sharing the communal sheds and workshops.
This always takes a lot of careful negotiation: we have neither unlimited space nor appetite for the proliferation of outbuildings, and we don’t aspire to have a second static caravan or build any more housing for the foreseeable future.
We are not up for members moving in live-in vehicles permanently.
Costs
Rent levels, bills and financing the renovation of the buildings.
The main income for the co-op is the rent paid by its members.
To be a member of the co-op means that you will have to work as hard to maintain the buildings as if you owned them. We aren’t the cheapest place to live, but we do care about accessibility and we try to keep our rents as affordable as possible.
Rent Levels
Rent levels are set by all full co-op members at core meetings . We take three things into account: how much income we need to cover basic co-op running costs and loan repayments; the size and type of accommodation each person/family has; and the housing benefit/Universal Credit levels in the local area. However we can't guarantee to keep all rents within benefit levels because we have to pay our loan and maintenance costs and we have no control over benefit levels changing. We don’t have rent holidays. Some of us pay more to have private use of more space.
Earthworm is a unique and beautiful place. It is not as cheap a place to live as some housing co-ops, but the rent is well below the average for this area of the country. You get different facilities, and more control over them for your rent, than in more ordinary homes.
A great draw for housing co-ops, is that the legal entity we run, that manages our homes, can borrow much more money than we would be able to as individuals, and this debt is tied to the co-op, not to us as individuals.
Bills
We all share the cost of wood for our central heating and hot water (£40 per person each month). For other utilities (electricity, water, internet etc.) the cost per household depends on use (£50-£70 per person each month). The shared house and static caravan also buy bottles of gas for cooking. Council Tax is paid by the co-op. Total cost each month per person for bills and heating is £90 - £110.
Financing the Renovation of Buildings
The housing co-op has issued loan stock and taken on a large, long term mortgage in order to pay for the renovation and alterations to the buildings.
The repayments of this borrowing are made using rents. We have to have a minimum of 10 people paying rent at all times to make the minimum amount of money to cover the basic running costs of the co-op and repayments of loans. Any extra money we raise when we have more than 10 co-op members goes towards ongoing maintenance and our long-term maintenance funds for the roof, heating system, windows and to cover anything else which drops off the buildings unexpectedly!
The rent will never go down, even after the biggest bits of our borrowing are paid off.
People doing work for the co-op instead of paying rent has been disastrous for this co-op in the past (large DIY-errors and an empty bank account), so we follow quite rigorous budgeting, purchasing and planning procedures.
In the long term, the co-op is an evolving, flexible thing; we periodically review our business plan, and all full members have equal say. The culture of our group will not change quickly though. We are committed to high standards of safety, efficiency and quality, and plans, work and decision-making evolve very slowly.
This culture is spelled out in a raft of policy documents which we will share with you as part of the membership process.