Hi all,
As a project so closely tied to workers.coop, sharing this announcement below in response to this statement from Green Square Accord, SCD’s housing association. Please share/comment the IG post to show support. We are working out a response plan rapidly.
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On Thursday 12th March, GreenSquareAccord (GSA) leadership informed Stirchley Co-operative Development (SCD) that it intends to retain ownership of the nearly completed and much-delayed building, jeopardising a project developed by and funded for local residents and workers. SCD believes that this decision passes GSA’s costs onto SCD members and our local community.
SCD is a democratic, community-led organisation formed by local residents and worker co-operatives in 2016. The building has 39 residential flats and three commercial spaces. The project was established in direct response to the gentrification of Stirchley, where rising commercial rents have put long-standing local businesses at risk of displacement. Birmingham Bike Foundry, Artefact, and Loaf are not only tenants but co-owners, businesses that have spent a decade investing their time, money, and labour into developing the building alongside residents in order to secure their future in the area.
The 39 residential flats are set at social rent levels, due to the government grant, ensuring that people working in Stirchley’s low-paid industries can afford to live on the same high street they work on. Ownership has always been central to this vision - who owns the building matters because it determines who has long-term power over, and who benefits from those spaces.
GSA took over construction in 2024 following the original contractor’s insolvency. As our existing housing association partner, we were told that signing a new contract wasn’t on the table as construction would now be in house. We had no reason to doubt our years-long understanding and have always had confidence that the building would be transfered as agreed with GSA on a turnkey basis upon completion, expected in June 2025.
GSA’s claim that “SCD can’t meet the costs of the project” misrepresents the current situation. Construction delays under GSA increased their project costs. It now appears they are seeking to recoup their losses by raising the sale price by £1.2 million beyond what our social housing and worker co-op project can afford. Social rent housing and affordable work premises mean rents are capped and so is our ability to go above the original sale price - something GSA have always been aware of.
Rather than negotiate, GSA has begun approaching individual worker co-ops directly about commercial leases, with no affordability guarantees, no move-in dates, and no commitment to current residents, many of whom are homeless while they wait due to repeated unfulfilled move in dates.
The consequences are devastating: three long-standing, local businesses at risk of closure, serious housing insecurity for residents, and lasting damage to the prospects for large scale co-operative Registered Social Landlord housing projects in the U.K.
SCD rejects the notion that GSA can own the building and still retain the community-led aspect of the project. SCD is rooted in the community. The project wouldn’t exist without the 10 years of community groundwork - SCD helped to develop the plan, broker the land deal, and navigate the planning process. SCD secured the crucial £210k Community Housing Fund to work up the planning application, leading to the Homes England capital grant that made the whole project viable.
In their refusal letter, GSA states they are “committed to ensuring the spirit of the project continues.” But the “spirit” of the project is inseparable from its co-operatively owned nature, which is now at risk.
Far from being “the responsible thing to do”, GSA’s decision represents a large institution taking control of a project created through community labour and public support, while transferring consequences that were outside of the control of SCD onto the local community. Their claim to also be providing housing at social rents, ignores the fact that the plan to do so would fully continue under SCD and that the responsible thing to do would have been for them to stick to completion dates and hand over the project on time.
SCD calls on political representatives, sector leaders, and the public to stand with the Stirchley community and as it looks for an immediate path back to community ownership.
who owns the land?