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The Cooperative Development Society Ltd / CDS Cooperatives

CDS Cooperatives was founded in 1975 and is the largest, most effective and influential cooperative housing development and service agency in London and the South-East of England.  CDS Cooperatives is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority as a bona fide cooperative society, democratically controlled by its members.  CDS Cooperatives’ members are the client cooperatives and committed individuals to CDS’s work.

The Society employs 45 staff at its office in central London who provides support services to 46 independent co-operatives and manages a total of 3,300 properties which are spread across London and central and south east England in 24 Local Authorities.

Find out more about housing cooperatives in the UK

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Brighton & Hove Community Land Trust

Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust in the UK filmed their workshops on community-led housing recently so that people can watch them anytime. Find out how to set up a housing cooperative, get mortgage advice and learn about pla ...Read More

Advocacy United Kingdom Video
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Capturing the Customer Voice

Resident satisfaction surveys continue to be an essential tool used to shape services, improve ways of working and enhance the customer experience or residents across the housing sector. In 2011, HouseMark launched what is now the ...Read More

Research United Kingdom Research Paper
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From Conflict to Cooperation

These five booklets cover basic communication concepts, making meetings more effective, dealing with conflict, improving communication, and the vital role of the board.  View here. ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom Educational
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Community Land Trusts in England: A Study of an Emerging Typology

The aim of this masters thesis by Dave Smith is to establish an emerging, consistent typology that could be termed an ‘English Community Land Trust’ – one distinct from that of other affordable housing providers; congruen ...Read More

Research United Kingdom
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How Scottish Housing Coops Build Communities

The study, published in 2019, says housing coops help to build stronger and safer communities, offer affordable rents and empower tenants – and calls on the Scottish government to encourage more of them. With 150,000 people on c ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Rochdale Pioneers and the Coop Principles

This essay does not pretend to be a work of original research or even of comprehensive synthesis and interpretation. It does aim to pull together selected points of view about Rochdale to give readers a convenient point of entry into some complex issues.Read More

Governance Canada
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Co-operative councils share best practices of working with local communities

Find out how local councils in the UK are co-operating with communities to generate more affordable housing and make use of government funding for community-led housing in these various case studies.  ...Read More

Community United Kingdom
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Building homes, creating communities, changing lives: A strategy for scaling up and maximising impact 2017-2021

Wales needs more homes, particularly homes that are affordable for people on low to middle incomes. Welsh Government has committed to delivering 20,000 affordable homes during the current Welsh Government term. Building on rich tr ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Community-led Housing: a Key Role for Local Authorities

Community-led Housing: a key Role for Local Authorities by the Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network illustrates why and how municipal authorities across the UK are enabling and supporting Community-Led Housing.  The Housin ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Mutuality & accountability in the housing association sector

Mutuality & accountability in the housing association sector is the report of the Mutual Governance:Mutual Outcomes project, set up to explore the value of mutuality in mutual housing associations in the UK. Mutual housing associa ...Read More

Management United Kingdom
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Best Practices and Strategies among the Leading Affordable Housing Developers and Owners

British-American Peer-to-Peer Exchange: Sharing Best Practices and Strategies among the Leading Affordable Housing Developers and Owners The exchange, which was sponsored by the Housing Partnership Network (US) and the National Ho ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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TEDx – Ecological Co-housing at LILAC Leeds, UK by Paul Chatterton

 Paul Chatterton teaches in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds, with interests in campaigning techniques, urban social movements, urban development and how city centres are being privatised and corporatised, as we ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Financing Co-operative and Mutual Housing

This report examines the current financing of social housing and contrasts it with other European countries (chapter 3), highlights some key issues that may affect the current financing model (chapter 4), outlines existing and new ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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What Is Co-operative and Mutual Housing?

No two co-operative and mutual housing schemes are the same. Part of what makes it successful is its ability to enable local people to develop housing in the way that is right for them.Read More

Community United Kingdom
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Community and Mutual Home Ownership: A Historical Review – Joseph Rowntree Foundation

This report surveys the history of community and mutual ownership and considers the implications for policy and practice in this area. In recent years, policy-makers have identified community and mutual ownership as making a sig ...Read More

Community United Kingdom
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Climate-Proofing Social Housing Landscapes

Climate-Proofing Social Housing Landscapes, a project run by Groundwork London in the UK in partnership with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, aims to demonstrate how to prepare and adapt in order to future-proof exist ...Read More

Sustainability United Kingdom
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Community-led Housing Toolkit 1 & 2 and Key Resources Kit

Community-led Housing projects are run by individual community groups determined to build the types of homes that local people need and want. These projects are aimed at solving local problems through local control. Community-led ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Bringing Democracy Home

'Bringing Democracy Home' shows that the benefits extend beyond the performance indicators: people who live in democratically owned or managed housing take more responsibility, and feel a greater sense of belonging, identity and o ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Local housing, community living: prospects for scaling up and scaling out community-led housing

This report by the Smith Institute highlights how community-led housing schemes in the UK have successfully met the needs and aspirations of local groups and communities. The research reveals that developments are innovative, have ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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1,001 co-operative and community-led homes: the housing revolution starts here

This is a directory of co-operative and community-led housing schemes in England and Wales. It's an impressive and very diverse list put together by CHI member Confederation of Co-operative Housing (CCH). Read about the details o ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Research into the potential demand for co-operative housing in Wales

This report presents the findings on the public perceptions of co-operative housing in Wales. For those who want to learn more about the sector it sets the scene, provides cases studies and gives a set of practical recommendations to take this forward across Wales.Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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Guide to Developing New Co-operative Homes in the UK

New-Co-operative-and-Community-led-Homes-2017 is a basic guide for community groups, local authorities, housing associations, housing co-operatives and others in the UK who are interested in exploring the development of new co-operative and community-led homes.Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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How do we build up the community-led housing sector?

Today, the sector is small in the UK compared with our neighbours on the near continent, and more needs to be done if it is to become mainstream including more support from government. A report from the Smith Institute, a left-of- ...Read More

Financing and Development United Kingdom
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LILAC – Mutual Home Ownership Community in Leeds, England

LILAC, a housing co-op located in Leeds, England is a good case study not only of a different model of co-op housing as well as sustainable technology and practices. David Rodgers, former president of CHI and current London Boroug ...Read More

Sustainability United Kingdom
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The Confederation of Co-operative Housing accreditation framework for housing co-operatives and their service providers

In 2010 the Confederation of Co-operative Housing in the UK developed an accreditation programme for housing co-ops and their service providers. The Confederation of Co-operative Housing accreditation framework for housing co-operatives and their service providersRead More

Management United Kingdom
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Code of Governance for Housing Co-ops

The CCH in the UK have revised the joint CCH and National Housing Federation code of governance for co-operative and mutual housing organisations. It is intended to be a generic code that could apply to a range of co-operative a ...Read More

Governance United Kingdom
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CLH Training – Governance in Community-Led Housing

This guidance is about good governance and the responsibilities of those who are charged with governing community-led housing organisations. It relates to G4 Basic Governance, L4 Excellence in Governance, and L5 Statutory, Legal, ...Read More

Governance Global Report
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Financing Co-operative and Mutual Housing

The Commission's final report on Cooperative and Mutual Housing (Bringing Democracy Home) highlighted the need for consideration of the role that cooperative and mutual housing could play in the national housing strategy. The Fina ...Read More

Financing and Development Global Report
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Logement abordable : profils de cinq villes métropolitaines

Par cette publication, nous souhaitons ouvrir le débat sur le logement en tant que droit fondamental et enjeu métropolitain, en mettant en lumière l’expérience de grandes métropoles et dans l’espoir d’inspirer des idées nouvelles pour aborder cet enjeu absolument fondamental de l’urbanisation moderne.Read More

Advocacy Global
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Towards the Localization of the Sustainable Development Goals

The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments prepared a report showcasing how cities and regions are fostering alternative housing policies to support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. With increased urbanization, ...Read More

Advocacy Global
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World Habitat Awards 2017 – Winners and Finalists

As part of our collaboration with urbaMonde, we would like to highlight this years World Habitat Awards.  They tell some fantastic stories of what has been achieved globally to create safe homes where people can live free from t ...Read More

Community Global
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Building Strong Development Cooperation: Partnership Opportunities between Cooperatives and the EU

In 2000, United Nations (UN) member states recognised the need to build global partnerships for development and the exchange of expertise as one of the Millennium Development Goals. Across the international development field, part ...Read More

Financing and Development Global
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Raising Capital: The Capital Conundrum for Co-operatives

New report: The Capital Conundrum for Co-operatives "The Capital Conundrum for Co-operatives", a new report released by the Alliance’s Blue Ribbon Commission explores ideas and options available to co-operatives that need suitab ...Read More

Financing and Development Global
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Sustainable Use of Forests: an Urgent Global Challenge

The unsustainable exploitation of our planet’s forests is a major contributor to global warming and threatens the future of humanity. Co-operative Housing International believes that the co-operative family has a role to play to prevent the ongoing degradation of the forests and is calling all co-operatives to support its Sustainable Management Forest Initiative.Read More

Sustainability Global
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Financing Housing Co-operatives in a Credit Crunch

Financing the development of housing co-operatives is a challenge and more so in time of financial restrictions and uncertainty.  CHI members discussed the issue during a seminar held in November 2009 in Geneva.  Presentations w ...Read More

Financing and Development Global
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What’s new in Sustainable Forest Management?

 The Forest Products Annual Market Review 2013 reports that the development of new refinement processes has led to the production of new and more affordable wood based products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT). The report sta ...Read More

Sustainability Global
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The Guidance Notes on the Co-operative Principles

Updated Guidance Notes on the Co-operative Principles, edited by David Rodgers, former President of Co-operative Housing InternationalRead More

Governance Global
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Promoting Cooperatives – International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation 193 on the Promotion of Cooperatives

The ILO views cooperatives as important in improving the living and working conditions of women and men globally as well as making essential infrastructure and services available even in areas neglected by the state and investor-driven enterprises. Cooperatives have a proven record of creating and sustaining employment – they provide over 100 million jobs today; they advance the ILO’s Global Employment Agenda and contribute to promoting decent work.Read More

Legal Global
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Profiles of a Movement: Co-operative Housing around the World – Volume One

This first volume includes the co-operative housing profile of 22 countries. This report presents the history and the current realities of co-operative housing around the world.  CHI is currently in the process of updating the ...Read More

Community Global
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The Cooperative Housing International Good Governance Test

The purpose of the Governance Test is to provide a means for housing co-ops affiliated with CHI to measure their standards of governance and to help them develop a good governance action plan to improve governance in weaker areas. ...Read More

Governance Global
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Students and Housing Cooperatives

Student housing cooperatives have become very popular in the USA and many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCO. Unlike a resident who acquires shares at market rates to earn the right to occupy ...Read More

Community Global
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Environment Sustainability and Climate Change Seminars

To further our commitment towards sustainable sources of timber and forest products and to provide co-operators more information on the certification programmes and successful sustainable initiatives, CHI organized a seminar on S ...Read More

Sustainability Global
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Housing Co-operatives and Climate Change

ICA members adopted a resolution at the 2007 General Assembly calling on the co-operative movement to do its share in combating climate changes. The resolution suggests three ways on how the co-op movement can act now: Measure and ...Read More

Sustainability Global
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Legal Frameworks for Housing Co-operatives: Seminars

As part of CHI's plan to map its activities to the International Co-operative Alliance's Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, CHI held a seminar on one of the Blueprint elements:  Legal Frameworks for Housing Co-operatives. “Co ...Read More

Legal Global
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Good Governance Charter for Housing Co-operatives

 The Good Governance Charter for Housing Co-operatives was launched at the ICA Housing Plenary in Manchester in November 2012.It has three parts:A 10-point set of good governance practicesAn interpretive statement for each good p ...Read More

Governance Global
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Profiles of a Movement: Co-operative Housing around the World – Volume Two

Volume 2 of the Profiles of a Movement concentrates on the African continent. We are pleased to present the remarkable work achieved by the African co-operators, work accomplished in a very challenging environment. These profil ...Read More

Community Global
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Financing and Climate Change Seminars

Seminars about continued public sector investment in co-operative housing in Austria and Canada, innovative funding arrangements created by the co-operative housing sector in Italy and harnessing member investment through co-opera ...Read More

Financing and Development Global
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The Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade and its Special Application to the Housing Sector

The Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade is a worldwide campaign to “take the co-operative way of doing business to a new level”. The five key elements of the Blueprint are participation, sustainability, identity, legal frameworks and capital. The Blueprint is particularly relevant to co-operative housing and the Blueprint interpretation for co-operative housing below explains how.Read More

Governance Global
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