Radical Routes

Last updated
Radical Routes
FormationIncorporated 1 April 1992 (1992-04-01) [1]
Type Secondary co-operative
Registration no.27587R
Legal status Registered Society
Purpose Social change
Region
United Kingdom
ServicesCo-operative development, finance, training, gatherings
Membership36 housing co-ops and worker co-ops [2]
Main organ
Quarterly Gathering of Members
Website radicalroutes.org.uk
Radical Routes member Nutclough Housing Co-operative in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Nutclough Housing Co-op (Zion), Keighley Road - geograph.org.uk - 1142445.jpg
Radical Routes member Nutclough Housing Co-operative in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.

Radical Routes is a UK-based network of housing co-ops. [3] The organisation supports new and established co-ops through loan finance, training workshops, practical support, and national gatherings. [4] [5]

Contents

History

Radical Routes emerged in 1986 from a network of people in London and Hull who wanted to develop workers' co-operatives. [6] The network agreed its common aims and adopted the name Radical Routes in 1988, and became incorporated as Radical Routes Limited in 1992. [7] In 1998 Rootstock Limited was incorporated as an investment scheme supporting Radical Routes co-operatives. [8] The original house in Hockley was set up as the 'New Education Housing Co-op'. [9]

According to Rootstock, between 1991 and 2012 Radical Routes made over sixty loans to member co-ops – totaling over £1m – with no co-operatives defaulting on loan payments. [10] These loans have typically been used by member housing co-ops, in addition to finance from traditional lenders, to buy property. [11]

Work

Radical Routes provides small loans (up to about £50,000) to member co-operatives. Decisions on making loans are made collectively by other member co-operatives, this has been described as "peer-group loan appraisal". [12]

Radical Routes publishes booklets on subjects such as How to set up a Housing Co-operative and How to set up a Worker Co-operative. [13]

With Cooperatives UK they launched proposals for an independent co-operative regulator after the government announced that it would be abolishing the FSA. Previously the FSA had regulated co-operatives, which were registered as industrial and provident societies.

Radical Routes is developing a ‘co-op cluster’ model for co-op housing with groups of housing co-ops combining their assets to buy new properties outright, eliminating mortgage interest. [14]

Membership

Member co-operatives are expected to commit to a share of Radical Routes' workload as volunteers, and work toward radical social change. [15] [16]

At January 2024 the organisation has 30 members: 26 housing co-ops and 4 worker co-ops. [17]

Limitations

A 2014 round table report by Radical Routes and Friends Provident Foundation identified carpet bagging, among other things, as a systemic weakness within the existing housing co-op framework. [18] 'Carpet bagging' refers to established co-ops significantly reducing their rents or, rarely, selling their property for private gain. The report explores ways in which the systematic weaknesses might be addressed, mentioning the Mietshäuser Syndikat model as having provably solved the carpet bagging issue. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cooperative</span> Autonomous association of persons or organizations

A cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives are democratically controlled by their members, with each member having one vote in electing the board of directors. They differ from collectives in that they are generally built from the bottom-up, rather than the top-down. Cooperatives may include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Housing cooperative</span> Type of housing development that emphasizes self-governance and quasi-communal living

A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically housing cooperatives are owned by shareholders but in some cases they can be owned by a non-profit organization. They are a distinctive form of home ownership that have many characteristics that differ from other residential arrangements such as single family home ownership, condominiums and renting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Co-operative Group</span> British group of retail businesses

The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, legal services, funerals and insurance, and social enterprise.

A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which management is elected by every worker-owner who each have one vote. Worker cooperatives may also be referred to as labor-managed firms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Phone Co-op</span> UK based co-operative telecoms supplier

The Phone Co-op was an independent consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It provided landline, mobile telephone and Internet services, including web hosting and broadband. In April 2018, the Phone Co-op board agreed for its operations to be transferred to the Midcounties Co-operative, with the Phone Co-op legal entity ceasing to exist. The brand continued to be operated until 1 June 2018, when it was rebranded to Your Co-op following the completion of the transfer.

Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housing". Forms of subsidies include direct housing subsidies, non-profit housing, public housing, rent supplements/vouchers, and some forms of co-operative and private sector housing. Increasing access to housing usually contributes to lower poverty rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial and provident society</span> Type of corporate entity originating in Britain

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The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumers' co-operative</span> Enterprise owned and managed democratically by consumers

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midcounties Co-operative</span> British consumer co-operative

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References

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  11. "Housing coops: a landlord you can trust". The Bristol Cable. 27 August 2019. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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  14. Kidd, Marie-Claire (16 June 2015). "Radical Routes Plans to Free Housing Co-ops from Mortgage Trap". The News Coop. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  15. Nicholson, Patrick (November 2007). "Radical Routes". peacenews.info. Peace News. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
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  17. "Radical Routes members and associates". www.radicalroutes.org.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  18. 1 2 "Co-op Clusters – Round table report" (PDF), www.radicalroutes.org.uk, 2014, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022, retrieved 9 October 2022