Development group
The main function of the Development Group is to plan the future supply of housing under the coop’s management, according to projected needs for different sizes and types of properties. It does this through a process of negotiation with Housing Associations, who act as development agents; that is, they apply for central government grants to create affordable homes. Usually, the HAs own or lease all of the properties managed by the coop.
ABC Southwark manages both permanent and short-life housing. In the past the supply of short-life stock has come mainly from council-owned street property in poor condition. In the future, all short-life will be privately-owned, and come with more and stricter terms attached to the lease, making the task of the development group more difficult.
The work of the development group falls into an annual cycle, consisting of assessment of development needs, working up proposals for funding together with the development agent, and, where bids are successful, overseeing the project through to completion.
The group also reacts to offers from HAs. A development officer may offer us a certain property: it would then be the group’s job to assess that property in terms of its suitability for the coop’s needs, ease/difficulty of management, and financial viability. Some really nice houses may be impossibly expensive for the coop to manage, even when funded by grants and low-cost loans. If the group decides that the property is a good bet, it will make a recommendation to the general meeting.
Recently the development group has spent a lot of time dealing with the Co-op’s legal obligations to hand back properties in reasonable condition when a short-life lease ends. This again is a process of negotiation with our partners. The group also tries to ensure that our tenants/members have somewhere to move to, when a lease is over.
The main skill required for this group is the ability to communicate with people and make deals – it’s quite like being a property developer, but you don’t own the property! Because there are usually building works at the beginning and end of any lease, the development group also gets involved with architects, surveyors and contractors, and so it’s also sometimes a little bit like the work of the maintenance group.
ABC Southwark manages both permanent and short-life housing. In the past the supply of short-life stock has come mainly from council-owned street property in poor condition. In the future, all short-life will be privately-owned, and come with more and stricter terms attached to the lease, making the task of the development group more difficult.
The work of the development group falls into an annual cycle, consisting of assessment of development needs, working up proposals for funding together with the development agent, and, where bids are successful, overseeing the project through to completion.
The group also reacts to offers from HAs. A development officer may offer us a certain property: it would then be the group’s job to assess that property in terms of its suitability for the coop’s needs, ease/difficulty of management, and financial viability. Some really nice houses may be impossibly expensive for the coop to manage, even when funded by grants and low-cost loans. If the group decides that the property is a good bet, it will make a recommendation to the general meeting.
Recently the development group has spent a lot of time dealing with the Co-op’s legal obligations to hand back properties in reasonable condition when a short-life lease ends. This again is a process of negotiation with our partners. The group also tries to ensure that our tenants/members have somewhere to move to, when a lease is over.
The main skill required for this group is the ability to communicate with people and make deals – it’s quite like being a property developer, but you don’t own the property! Because there are usually building works at the beginning and end of any lease, the development group also gets involved with architects, surveyors and contractors, and so it’s also sometimes a little bit like the work of the maintenance group.
Future development
Whether we want to get bigger as a co-op is something that we decide on together, at General Meetings. We may need to make decisions about whether to accept new properties that are offered to us, especially if there are members in need of re-housing. The Development Group works on finding and inspecting new properties, and negotiating with housing associations for new properties and hand-back of old short-life properties.
