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Who We Are
Incorporated April 2021, Gida Housing Co-operative has been set up in direct response to the poor quality of private rented housing experienced by black and minoritised communities in Tottenham and across London, in terms of affordability and the lack of influence over the management and maintenance of their homes.
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affordable housing provider
Our Vision
Gida’s vision is to be an affordable housing provider which empowers Black and Minoritised communities by giving them influence and collective control over the management and maintenance of their own homes.
Gida will initially focus on the St Ann’s Hospital site and wherever possible influence the masterplan and ongoing decisions to ensure underrepresented communities are acknowledged and accommodated on the development and that homes and community spaces create a sense of community for the long term.
Learning from this first development, Gida will seek further opportunities to continue as a housing provider on other initiatives.
empowering Black and Minoritised communities
Values
Gida values are aligned with Co-operative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and unity.
In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
Gida will focus primarily on providing Black and Minoritised communities in Haringey borough with opportunities to live in decent, affordable housing, thus creating stabile and diverse communities.
Aims and Objectives
As a newly-formed Housing Co-operative, Gida aims to establish itself amongst its membership and wider stakeholders as a housing provider focusing on bringing together minority groups from the community to work cohesively on the delivery of homes.
In the first instance with the St Ann’s Development Gida will seek to ensure there is sufficient provision for 2/3-bedroom as well as 1-bed homes in order to create an intergenerational community. They will also contribute to the development of community spaces and consider the management of the community fund.
For the future, Gida’s aims to take on other affordable housing opportunities which meet the needs of under-represented community groups, and thus contribute to the creation of decent, affordable and stable communities.
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About Us
Gida Housing Co-operative, incorporated April 2021, has been set up in direct response to the poor quality of private rented housing experienced by black and minoritized communities in Tottenham and across London, in terms of affordability and the lack of influence over the management and maintenance of their homes. With at least 50 community-led homes to be established on the St Ann’s Hospital Site in Tottenham, this is an opportunity to address these issues and demonstrate an alternative that empowers communities and builds social value.
Gida is the Hausa (Northern Nigerian) word for ‘home’. Established to address housing issues amongst Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Groups within Haringey, Gida was devised and instigated by The Ubele Initiative, a national organisation with strong community roots playing a strategic role in supporting Black and Minoritized communities.
The Ubele Initiative has longstanding commitments within the borough and it was these commitments which encouraged various community groups to suggest that Ubele to form a consortium of interested parties who will work together to address the housing needs of their communities.
Founding Partnership
Gida is formed by a partnership of three main community groups. The partnership brings a wealth of complementary experiences and is committed to creating a new collaborative housing partnership which could, when realised, act as a regional and national example of best housing practice.
The Ubele Initiative focuses on key policy areas impacting their communities including the Community Ownership Fund, Levelling Up and the Shared Prosperity Fund. As stewards of Wolves Lane Horticultural Centre in Haringey they have successfully secured GLA capital funding and National Lottery capital and revenue funding to redevelop the site and support staffing over the next 5 years.
The Ubele Initiative’s national report; A Place to Call Home, 2015, identified a growing social leadership gap in Black and Minoritized communities due to ageing community leaders, loss of existing iconic community spaces, plus exclusion from national social economy opportunities aimed at creating new community wealth for communities. A lack of targeted investment and programmes has been exacerbated through the impact of local and regional development plans and ‘gentrification’. Since 2017 The Ubele Initiative has developed strategic initiatives including community-led research, campaigning and advocacy and a raft of creative programmes which aim to support ‘asset development’ in communities despite extremely limited financial resources and no full-time staff.
There has also been an overall negative impact of planning policies on affordable housing for poor communities in London and other cities. The Ubele Initative has a proven track record in incubating innovative ideas to challenge this paradigm and Gida is one such initiative. The Ubele Initiative acts as a catalyst organisation supporting ideas through securing human, financial and other resources and ultimately floating them off as their own entity. The Ubele Initiative is now strategically positioned to play a lead housing role in London through Gida, an intergenerational housing co-operative. The planned mixed development (on St Ann’s site of 900 homes) will support ‘lifetime communities’, housing single people, couples, families and older people. The Ubele Initiative is contributing to Catalyst Housing’s consultation process and intend to undertake long-term community development activities, essential to the building of a new community. Gida will allow The Ubele Initiative to create a local housing model led by Black and Minoritized communities, the learning from which could have a significant influence on new housing developments nationally.
Rode Housing Co-operative comprises architects, housing professionals and community organisers all of whom have known each other for many years through various housing-related activist networks. Rode believe that housing is a public right and that housing stability should not be bought at the expense of others. They are motivated by the staggering scale of the housing crisis in London and the urgent need to support those excluded from the current market. Having seen ad-hoc community defence initiatives challenging housing decisions in the city win only temporary reprieves they are seeking ways to utilise their shared skills to meet the problem constructively.
Rode members have supported local organisations and causes in Tottenham and North London for over a decade. Their work seeks to promote inclusivity and diversity in housing and urban development, highlighted most recently through their contribution to the Wards Corner Community Plan in Seven Sisters. This work, among other projects they have completed, advocates for locally-led development, community management and ownership.
Bahay Kubo Housing Association (BKHA) is a Registered Provider set up to respond to the housing needs of the Filipino and other migrant communities. They provide quality affordable accommodation, housing services, management, and advocacy.
BKHA has a strong track record of over 30 years managing and operating affordable housing in London, working with other BME and mainstream housing associations. Bahay Kubo was based in Tottenham Hale, Haringey for several years before moving to Hackney. The borough of Haringey is home for many Filipinos and St Ann’s Hospital has employed many Filipino nurses over the years. Many workers from the North Middlesex and Whittington Hospitals in the neighbouring boroughs of Enfield and Islington find Haringey a suitable location to live due to its transport accessibility.
BHKA’s longstanding commitment to the borough has enabled the community to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. They set up the Kanlungn Filipino Consortium with a mission to promote the welfare of Filipinos and East and Southeast Asian communities in the UK through the provision of services, advocacy, campaigns and empowerment. The Filipino community needs stable affordable housing to raise families, take up employment and actively contribute to the economy.