A Co-Op/Share site buy between 10 friends and living in log cabins :)

cormie

Would anyone have any idea whether this would be legally possible? Say if there was a site for sale that when 5-10 friends came together to buy, they could afford. Not one of them could afford it on their own so it would require the agreements between 10 (just using 10 as an extreme case) people to put their savings and earnings together in order to pay off a mortgage that would be far too much for one, but easily affordable when divided.

Also, imagine on the land they bought, instead of building 5 houses say, that they built a communal building and then had 5 separate living quarters and then they also had plans to open this communal building to the public and use it as a shop/cafe? Now imagine doing this in Dublin.

Would it be even possible? Would it be a nightmare in terms of planning permission, legal work etc and how would the "shares" of the land work and what would happen if one party couldn't pay or wanted to leave? Could they sell their share in the land etc?

Would each persons share always be safe even if one person ended up owning a majority share?

Has anything like this ever been done before with success?

Cloughjordan Ecovillage?

cormie

Thanks for that. Just had a quick look and it looks pretty cool. Something like that would be what I'm talking about alright, just on a much smaller scale and in Dublin where planning permission etc might be a much bigger obstacle?

riclad

I dont see a problem with planning permission, You need to find a site thats zoned for residential purposes, and submit drawings ,plans
that are in line with building regulations.There was a program on channel 4,grand designs , i think it was a housing coop , where 20 houses were built ,using a special design.
The houses are designed to be easy to build ,using standard materials.
You could save money, if all houses ,are identical, use the same layout and materials.
http://www.selfbuild-central.co.uk/first-ideas/examples/hedgehog-co-op/
Theres always pvc windows ,doors for sale half price by companys on gumtree. and donedeal.
Those homes were built by the people who live in them .

http://scrapbook.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/bookmarks/series-7/episode-33
brighton coop
The designs are such that they can be built largely by non professionals,
apart from,the electrical,heating,plumbing systems.
IT has been known for say,7 people in the uk to buy a large building, jointly
then subdivide it ,and live like a coop.

cormie

Thanks a lot for the input. So with that all being in the UK, I wonder would it possible to do it in a similar way here, just buy a bit of land, or even a building and own a fraction of it which you're free to sell, keep and have a strong say even if the others want to do something new with the property which you're not too keen on.