'People like you don't create housing co-ops.'

This is what we were told when we first started talking about housing coops. So of course, we started one! Co-founded by Sarah Gomes Harris and Nichelle Kelleher in 2022, Hastings Rental Health Housing Coop sprung up from working class and global majority members, with the aim to create a housing co-op that provides solutions to people most in need.

HASTINGS RENTAL HEALTH HOUSING COOP

COOPS OFFER SECURE AFFORDABLE LONG TERM HOUSING WHICH IS CRUCIAL FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING & RESILIENCE

Despite our precarity as renters, often never having lived in one place for longer than three years, we still give our time to grassroots organising and supporting local people who have been forced into similar insecurity through rising rents and the cost of living crisis. ‘We are committed to working together to create a healthy living environment where our members can thrive and continue to serve our community, a model that can pave the way for future housing cooperatives in Hastings. With secure housing we can continue and build on the work we already do and recruit and help more members in need of support.’

THE BEST PEOPLE TO FIX THE HOUSING CRISIS ARE PEOPLE WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THE HOUSING CRISIS

We have engaged with local residents, and community organisations to understand the specific housing needs and challenges in Hastings. Working class, low-income and migrant communities of Hastings have suffered from generational disadvantage, now compounded by the post-pandemic recession and ongoing economic shocks. The knock-on effect to mental and physical health is causing unnecessary harm and destabilisation. Hasting Rental Health Coop will create and inspire a more equitable and inclusive housing market in Hastings led by those in need. This will have a positive and lasting impact on individuals and families, the wider community, and the environment in Hastings and East Sussex.