How it works
Life without a landlord
Roost homes are tenant run co-operatives. Here is what that means:
Security
Know that you can live in your Roost home for as long as you want. No arbitrary evictions.
Improvement
Change the kitchen, update insulation, or anything else that makes it nicer.
Control
You control the home and the maintenance, not a landlord. If it’s broke, you can fix it.
Community
Excess rent is donated or reinvested -- it goes to the community, not to a landlord.
What’s the catch?
It’s yours to control -- so it’s yours to manage.
We help with that. We help to sort out the bills, the maintenance, and make it easier to get the improvements.
But at the end of the day, it’s yours. You own it. We have a responsibility to make sure you’re not unsafe, but it’s your responsibility to make it a good place to live.
How Roost makes money
We get 10% of the rent you pay to live in a Roost home. No hidden charges or complicated subscriptions.
Our plan is to move lots of homes into community ownership and this fee lets us do that.
What’s next
1.
Get a group together
2.
Find a home
3.
Move in!
Get started
Create a co-op
Who we are
We came together because we were fed up with bad landlords. We wanted something better, and we knew we could do it through housing co-operatives.
So we set up Roost to make it easy to live without a landlord.
Frequently asked questions
What is a co-operative?
Co-operatives are organisations where every member has a say in how their home is run, but no-one can to profit off of it.
Co-op homes exist to benefit their members and the community they are a part of. It’s fundamentally different to renting from a landlord.
Landlords have the incentive to keep their home only just good enough to rent. Co-ops exist for their members, so they invest in and improve the home.
Can I invest in Roost?
Yes. You can invest as loan stock or bonds. We allow investors to choose whether they want to invest in affordable or market rate housing, where and what kind. For more details, email ben@roostrent.com.
Can I support a friend / family member?
Yes. This can be a good way to help them live in a good home, while getting a return on savings and increasing the amount of community-owned housing.
A freeholder
An organisation that owns the homes. This varies by where the money comes from for a particular home, but it's usually an asset-locked Community Interest Company.
We're using the 'wide membership' rules, which have a tripartite board: 1/3 of boardmembers are elected by tenants, 1/3 by non-tenant community members, and 1/3 are appointed.
These appointed members are financial, legal and housing professionals who ensure the effective running of the organisation.
6-year rolling lease
A management co-op
A co-op which leases the home, which is responsible for everything but the structure.
There is one co-op per home, so the people who live in the home have control of how the home is run. This includes getting new members, basic maintenance, and improvements.
It does not include gas safety or legionella disease. This remains the responsibility of the freeholder.
Membership
Contractual tenancy
A member
Someone who lives in a Roost home. You have a 2-month break period and cannot be evicted arbitrarily.
Legally, you can be evicted if you are over 2 months late on rent or cause serious damage to the property. While we have processes in place to help tenants in unfortunate situations, the other co-op members need the legal power to evict if necessary.
See our full legal model, including documents and leases:
Create a co-op