South Road Housing Co-operative
SRHC
Established Since 1981
South Road Housing Co-operative (SRHC)
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Our aims are to:
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build good houses
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house families in housing need within the area
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manage good quality housing
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treat people equally
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ensure everyone has an equal say
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South Road Housing Co-operative (SRHC) is a successful tenant run organisation that provides comfortable bedroom accommodation in the Lozells and Handsworth areas. The Co-operative is representative of the local area and is highly independent and whilst it buys some services from bchs it also directly provides services itself.
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SRHC receives promotional, educational and administrative services from Birmingham Co-operative Housing Services (Bchs). SRHC is a small co-op with just over 30 members and as it is fully mutual, all its member are re-housed by the Co-op. The day to day decisions involving the running of the Co-op are made by the management committee who hold monthly meetings, while all other members are expected to attend quarterly general meetings.
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South Road Housing Co-operative is registered with the
Co-operative & Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. and is defined as a “Fully Mutual Housing Co-operative” under the rules registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies.
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SRHC like other Registered Social Landlords are registered with The Regulator of Social Hosing and are monitored accordingly. The officers of the committee are all Co-op members and are voted into office annually at the general meeting in April. A representative from (Bchs) usually attends the monthly management meetings to advise to the committee on matters which pertain to their legal obligations towards tenants.
Similar to other Co-ops, SRHC is like any other organisation; it requires agreement on purpose and a regular review of what it is doing. The Co-op develops policies (see policies section) based on principles and opinions and of course, relevant law and good practice guidelines. All members have an equal say and a policy is not adopted or amended until approval is gained via a general meeting to which ALL members are invited.
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Our Story
South Road Housing Co-operative (SRHC) was formed in the winter of 1980 by a group of tenants living in South Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, who wanted more control over their housing. They registered with the Housing Corporation in June 1981 and with the Registrar of Friendly Societies in August of the same year as a fully mutual Housing Co-operative. Their main aim then and it still remains so and that is to re-house families in housing need.
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​Living in a housing co-operative gives us such an advantage because we have a say in the way the housing co-operative is operated, and that makes a big difference over for-profit rental housing. We formed the co-operative all those years ago because we are the type of people who like to get involved and want a real sense of community. It is no surprise that we have been growing from strength to strength ever since.
