Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative is run entirely by our members, providing affordable rent and a vibrant community to our 106 members. Pop by for a cup of tea!
28 & 34 Wright's Houses
Edinburgh
EH10 4HR
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Rent in Edinburgh is bloody expensive. Throw into that letting agencies charging illegal fees, landlords running off with your deposit, far-from-sufficient student finance — it can
often be hard to feed yourself. In Edinburgh we are also facing a significant shortage in student housing, which the University chronically fails to address. Across Britain tenants are exploring a number of methods to deal with dodgy landlords, rocketing rents, unfair contracts, and cuts to housing benefits. Amongst them are tenant’s unions, which aim to share information on shoddy letting agencies and landlords and to facilitate collective resistance. Housing co-operatives form one part of the solution in this wider struggle. A housing co-operative is housing collectively owned and democratically run by its residents. Successful co-operatives are built on the foundations of democracy, equality, and solidarity — fostering innovation and community. By cutting out profiteering landlords they can knock a significant chunk off the rent in the process. Beyond cheap housing, co-operatives provide something that most halls lack: Community. The co-op depends on collective responsibility, working together, and mutual aid. By working together everyone quickly gets to know each other — building strong social ties, friendships and support structures. Housing co-operatives do not solve the underlying economic issues entrenching class division and driving inequality. However they can strengthen movements for change and can provide a glimpse into potential methods of organising a fairer, more participatory and sustainable economic system than contemporary capitalism.
