Author: Helen B

A note to people looking for vacancies

There are a small number of co-ops in the city and lots of those are still in the process of setting up. To get in touch with co-ops directly, contact details and websites can be found on the individual member pages. When we receive details of vacancies we share them on our Twitter account https://twitter.com/Chibahteam. It’s also worth joining Brighton & Hove Community Land Trust (membership costs £1) who publish a monthly update of what’s going on with co-ops and community led housing in the city and beyond https://bhclt.org.uk/membership/

2 Vacancies at Brighton Rock Housing Co-operative

Brighton Rock Housing Co-operative are looking for 2 community minded people with time to contribute to the co-op in return for an affordable rent. The co-op has 12 members living in three large adjoining terraced houses in West Hove with a shared communal garden that has vegetable beds and beehives. It is 3 miles from the centre of Brighton

Applicants must attend a viewing before applying and be available for a short interview on 27th March 2021. Please text 07815906502 to arrange a Zoom viewing

NB because of the nature of the property it is not suitable for children, couples or pets

For more information about Brighton Rock please visit their website

Vacancies at Out of Town Housing Co-op

Out Of Town housing co-op are looking for new people! Message from them below:

We have several vacancies coming up in our co-op in fiveways, in Brighton. These rooms would suit single people as well as small family units or couples due to their differing sizes. We do however want one person per room. We are open to pets

Rent is £345/month. Total bills are £50 a month and we have a food kitty of £15 week. There is no deposit, rent is paid from when you move in.

If you want to find out more come to our drop-in evening on Friday 12th July 4-8pm or one of our coop general meetings Wednesday 3rd July, Thursday 1st August, Wednesday 4th September

Email ootnewmembers@gmail.com for more detailed info.

Vacancy in Brighton Rock Housing Co-op – apply immediately

Brighton Rock are looking for a community minded person with time to contribute to our co-op in return for an affordable rent. The co-op has 12 members living in three adjoining terraced houses in West Hove with a communal veg garden. It is 3 miles from the centre of Brighton

Applicants must attend a viewing before applying and be available for a short interview on Sat 22 or Sun 23 Sep 2018. Please tex 07815906502 to arrange a viewing

NB because of the nature of the property it is not suitable for children, couples or pets

Launch of the Brighton & Hove Community-Led Housing Programme

Community-led housing is a way to create more genuinely affordable and secure homes, allowing local people to create alternatives that are community focused and take power back from the hands of developers, letting agencies and a housing market that is out of control.

CHIBAH is working with Brighton & Hove Community-Land Trust (BHCLT) and Mutual Aid in Sussex (MAIS) on a new Community-Led Housing Programme, supported by Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC).

There will be a free launch event at the Brighthelm Centre on Wednesday 21 February. Reserve your place here at Eventbrite.

At the FREE launch event there will be the opportunity to:

  • Find out more about what community-led housing is and why it could be a good option for you.
  • Hear about exciting examples of community-led housing right here in Brighton & Hove.
  • Meet other people who want to start their own housing projects.
  • Find out more about Housing Ourselves: grants of £1,000 up to £50,000 available to housing groups.
  • Learn about how the Programme can connect people with experts, or how your expertise could be useful to a community-led housing group.
  • Ask us questions, including advice on Housing Ourselves grant applications.
  • Share your ideas for community-led housing in Brighton & Hove and what support you need to make them happen.

The event will take place on Wednesday 21 February, 5.30-9.00pm (Registration from 5:15pm) in the Auditorium, Brighthelm Centre, North Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1YD. Food will be provided at the start of the event.

Find out more about the Community-Led Housing Programme, and what support is available here at the CLT website.

Vacancy at Rosa Bridge Housing Co-operative

Rosa Bridge is looking for a new member – info here:

We are looking for a member for our small, fairly new housing co-operative in Tarner, close to Queen’s Park, from the start of April 2018 (flexible). We would like to live with feminist queer people. We are particularly interested in applications from POC and trans people (we intend this term to be used in its most inclusive sense).

It is a lovely 5-bedroom house with a large garden for the centre of town. The house is on the small side but with a good-sized communal lounge and kitchen; the bedroom available is a small double.

We are currently a mix of queer cis women and non-binary people. We all have quite different lives so we’re often not in at the same time but we try to do things we enjoy together, like chatting in the kitchen, eating together, watching Buffy, and other stuff. We want to create a home and live with people we care about and want to spend time with: for that reason our joining process involves several meetings and time spent together.

We share things communally: food, books, DVDs, tools and such. The communal cooking is vegan, but it isn’t a strictly vegan or vegetarian space. We each cook once a week for the house, and we have a cleaning rota to keep things tidy. We try to do things in a sustainable and ecological way. Alcohol is drunk in the house but some people are alcohol-free.

As a housing co-operative we are responsible for its management, as well as ongoing maintenance of the house itself. At a minimum we have monthly meetings and a monthly work day, to keep on top of these tasks. You do not need to have previous knowledge or experience of co-ops but we are looking for someone with an active interest and a willingness and ability to commit time to it.

The rent is £348 pcm plus £65 for bills. There is no deposit. It is a one person, single tenancy. We welcome people on benefits.

Accessibility: the house is up a steep hill, 10/15 minutes up or down a hill to bus stops and shops. There are 3 shallow but awkward steps to get into the house, and doorways are slim. The bedroom is on the ground floor as are all communal areas and there are no steps across the ground floor. Lighting is energy-saving bulbs across the house. Although we are unfortunately not able to make huge structural changes to the house, we are very happy to make other alterations as needed.

The first stage of our joining process is a meeting where we will show you around and tell you about the co-op. This will be for up to 90 minutes on Saturday 3rd March at 11am. Interviews are planned for the weekend of 17th/18th March, but this is yet to be confirmed. If we like you at the interview stage then you will be invited to hang out with us in a more informal way – this would take place over the weekend of 24th – 25th March, again yet to be confirmed. If everything goes well at the hangout you will then be formally invited to join the co-op and could move in on or after 1st April.

If you are interested please get in touch at rosabridgecoop@notmail.org and we’ll send you directions. If you have any access requirements of any type (application process, attending the meeting day etc), please just let us know!

Vacancy at Brighton Rock Housing Co-operative

Brighton Rock Housing Co-operative are looking for a community minded person with time to contribute to our co-op in return for an affordable rent. The co-op has 12 members living in three adjoining terraced houses in West Hove with a communal veg garden. It is 3 miles from the centre of Brighton

Applicants must attend a viewing before applying and be available for a short interview on Sunday 18 March 2018. Please text Ian 07815906502 to arrange a viewing

NB because of the nature of the property it is not suitable for children, couples or pets

More info here