Stroud Housing Commons

Stroud Housing Commons first formed in 2022 alongside other commons groups in Stroud. It started putting the first house in the commons in 2024, and in 2025 the first tenants moved in.

The Housing Commons provides affordable, well-maintained houses and secure tenancies. The houses are owned by the community in perpetuity.

How does it work?

A housing commons buys and lets housing. Rather than taking up a mortgage, it sells Rent Credit Obligations (RCOs) up front, to investors and future tenants. Only RCOs for up to 25 years worth of rent are issued.

Anyone can sell a house to the commons. The commons group is a reliable, cash buyer and from a seller’s perspective, there’s nothing unusual about the purchase.

The Housing Commons is a type of Common Asset Society. This means it is a partnership of 4 member groups:

  • Tenants who buy RCOs at a discount and pay their rent with them. There will be rent rebates after two years of being a member
  • Investors who buy RCOs in bulk up front at a discount and sell them to tenants on an internal market
  • Stewards who are paid by the commons to look after the house’s maintenance
  • Custodians / Commons safeguarders with a veto vote to ensure that commons principles are adhered to, and that houses are never sold out of the commons.

This ensures the house is kept in good shape, and there is a mutual interest to serve each member class well.

Rent voucher denomination

Rent vouchers are not denominated in the national currency, but in square metres of the minimum standard of local property that can be rented. More desirable properties are priced at more vouchers per square metre (rental value is ascertained by a local valuer / surveyor).
The housing crisis is not a supply problem, really – it’s a distribution problem, caused by over-inflated prices.

Want to learn more?

Check out the Stroud Commons website and read on Lowimpact why the housing commons is a good idea.

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