Always on
This project successfully funded on 30th April 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
151 Housing Cooperative
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom
Aim
Raise £5000 in essential costs to buy a home for our new housing cooperative that will be a hub for social change in the Toon.
"Can we have secure housing that doesn’t cost 9 times our yearly salary?"
"Can we have the time, space and creativity to shape our community?"
When the Government doesn’t step up, we have to.
↪ Our starting point: buy a 5 bedroom house for 151 Housing Cooperative in the West End of Newcastle that will serve as a hub for social change.
To do this we need £5000 to cover the lawyer, surveyor, auctioneer and administration fees needed to buy the house.
What can you do?
💜 Donate £10 to help us reach our goal.
📢 Share this campaign with your friends, family, and networks.
💰 Keep in touch and invest in loan stock (when the time comes!)
🤝 Get involved – we welcome advice, collaboration, and fresh perspectives!
(see our FAQs at the bottom of this doc!)
Who we are? What do we want?
We are 151 Housing Cooperative. We’re made up of 11 people from all walks of life unified by the shared struggle of navigating today's housing crisis and a commitment to creating a hub for community organising, social support, refuge and creativity. Not all of us intend to live in the cooperative, but we are all committed to making 151 Housing Cooperative thrive.
The vision for the house:
- A 5 bedroom house in the West End of Newcastle.
- Democratically controlled by the cooperative members.
- Inclusive and accessible to all.
- With affordable rents at or below the Local Housing Allowance rate.
We need your help to make this happen!
Why should you care?
Combatting the Housing Crisis
A lack of social housing and skyrocketing house prices, keeps people trapped in the private rented sector. This cycle ultimately gives more power to landlords and perpetuates the idea that housing is a commodity not a basic human right!
We want to break this cycle. A housing cooperative permanently removes a house from the speculative market and ensures it is a resource for people - not profit. Rent goes towards improving the property and brings more affordable housing to an area, rather than going into the pockets of a landlord.
A Hub for Social Change
151 Housing Cooperative was born from 151 Sidney Grove (FAQs), a communal home in the West End of Newcastle (1990 - 2024). Through 151 Sidney Grove we saw what happens when there is a space where like-minded people can live affordably and collaboratively. The result: people focused on projects that benefited themselves and their community. 151 became a hub for activism, DIY culture and grassroots organising. Former residents were involved in projects like, Star & Shadow Cinema, Red Herring Café, and Newcastle Green Festival. This is what we want for 151 Housing Cooperative, to be a space for people to work together and shape the world around them.
The Plan
Our financial model (FAQs) show that in order to buy a house we need:
1. A mortgage (from Ecology Building Society).
2. A loan from Radical Routes (a secondary housing cooperative).
3. Ethical investment via Loanstock campaign.
4. Fundraising through donations and grants.
We’ve made huge progress already:
✔️ Registered as a cooperative.
✔️ Built a committed team.
✔️ Joined Radical Routes, a UK network of housing cooperatives.
✔️ Developed a business plan.
Now, we are moving into the fundraising stage of our campaign.
We’re fundraising £5000 from our community (why just 5K? See our FAQs). This will cover non-capital expenses and encourage investment by demonstrating to investors we have community backing.
💰 What Will the Crowdfunded Money Go Towards?
The money we raise will go toward essential costs that loans won’t cover:
🔹 Legal fees.
🔹 Surveyor fees.
🔹 Auctioneer fees.
🔹 Administration and other non-capital expenses needed to make this project happen.
We’re asking for donations of £10, but we’re grateful for anything you can spare. The more we fundraise the closer it brings us to the goal of a housing cooperative in the West End. If you’re part of an organisation, please consider giving more.
We’ll be running a Loanstock Campaign in the near future. So if you’re keen to invest in an ethical organisation and for your money to support communities rather than weapons companies for example (read article here), please give us a message ([email protected]).
Right now, we need community support. Can you donate £10 and tell your friends and family about our campaign?
FAQs
Read our FAQs here, if you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
@151housingcooperative
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made