We are excited to announce that Stirchley Co-operative Development (SCD) has been awarded Registered Provider (RP) status by the The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
This is a huge milestone in our progression as a co-operative which we have been working towards over the past few years. Being a Registered Provider is very important as it means we will be eligible to access capital grant for the residential element of the scheme to buy the building from our partner Green Square Accord (GSA) once the site reaches the stage of Practical Completion. That money comes from Homes England who distribute funding for social housing in the UK via Registered Providers. In short this makes the scheme viable through accessing that grant alongside our mortgage and means that SCD as an independent housing co-operative will be able to provide secure and affordable housing long into the future.
We are really glad to have been working with RSH to strengthen our policies and processes as a team. We’ve learnt a lot from the process and will be incorporating those skills when it comes to managing the building. The next step involves collaborating with Birmingham City Council’s nomination team to prepare for social housing applications via Birmingham Choice. We have finalised nomination agreements and are now moving forward with this process in earnest.