Affordable housing – the co-operative way  

Stafford has a small but enthusiastic housing co-operative. I’m a member and supportive but not as active as I should be. Others, like Lisa and Tony Pearce, are doing the heavy lifting. And it’s getting us somewhere. Staffordshire County Council owns blighted properties in Castletown. They are blighted because of a highway protected route once published by the same County Council. The properties, potentially good homes, are long-term empty as a result. Our co-op has a plan to buy them, make them habitable once more, and rent them out. Finance for the purchase has been negotiated. We just need the Council to abandon the protected route (for a road that is never going to be built on that line) and sell the homes to the co-op. This is a great example of a small number of committed people making a difference by taking the initative. There is a role for this kind of work, especially...