Affordable housing options boosted by Nationwide Foundation’s investment in Welsh Co-operative Housing project / Dewisiadau tai fforddiadwy'n derbyn hwb trwy fuddsoddiad y Nationwide Foundation mewn prosiect Tai Cydweithredol yng Nghymru

Investment in Welsh co-operative project to create more affordable housing

Affordable housing options boosted by Nationwide Foundation’s investment in Welsh Co-operative Housing project

Wales Co-operative Centre is extending an innovative project intended to significantly increase the number of housing co-operatives able to provide affordable homes across Wales.

New funding has been provided by the Nationwide Foundation which will be used to enhance support already provided by the Welsh Government. The project will support 26 co-operative groups to become established over the next two years.

Co-operative housing is community-led, whereby residents democratically control and manage their homes. The Wales Co-operative Centre has identified appetite for more co-operative housing in Wales and it is a form of housing that can be suitable for ‘reluctant renters’; people who are currently priced out of the owner-occupied sector and who are unable to access social housing.

Using the new funding, Wales Co-operative Centre will engage experts to work with local co-operative housing projects on community development, as well as issues around legal, finance and business organisational models. This support will enable these co-operatives to become viable, robust and operational.

The Nationwide Foundation is providing Wales Co-operative Centre with a grant of £40,000. The Nationwide Foundation is a charitable funder which has a vision for everyone in the UK to have access to a decent home which they can afford. One of the ways it is doing this is by supporting alternative scalable models which provide affordable homes.

The Nationwide Foundation works with charitable organisations around the UK and this project is the first of the current strategy to be awarded in Wales.

Leigh Pearce, Nationwide Foundation’s Interim Chief Executive, said:
“We are always on the look-out for innovative and viable alternative models for housing which create decent affordable homes. As a result of this funding to Wales Co-operative Centre, we expect to see a long-term increase in the number of affordable co-operative homes in Wales. We welcome the recognition that the Welsh Government has already given to this scalable model of housing.”

Derek Walker is Chief Executive of the Wales Co-operative Centre, he said:

“We are grateful to the Nationwide Foundation for supporting this important and innovative project in Wales. Finding affordable housing is difficult for people trapped in the gap between social provision and being able to afford to step onto the housing ladder.

“Co-operative housing offers a solution that many people find attractive as it supports ownership and encourages community. There is a massive untapped potential for co-operative housing in Wales and this project will develop real co-operative communities and bring the approach into the mainstream”.

The Wales Co-operative Centre Co-operative Housing project aims to stimulate and increase the supply of co-operative housing in Wales. It is already supporting a number of pilot co-operative housing projects, the first of which should be occupied and up and running by the Summer 2015. The project supports the development of a variety of different housing co-operative models and aims to improve the skills and expertise of members of co-operative housing schemes in Wales to ensure their sustainability.

Buddsoddi mewn tai cydweithredol yng Nghymru i greu rhagor o dai fforddiadwy

Dewisiadau tai fforddiadwy'n derbyn hwb trwy fuddsoddiad y Nationwide Foundation mewn prosiect Tai Cydweithredol yng Nghymru

Mae Canolfan Cydweithredol Cymru yn ymestyn prosiect arloesol a fwriadwyd i gynyddu'n sylweddol nifer y mentrau tai cydweithredol sy'n gallu darparu tai fforddiadwy ledled Cymru. Darparwyd cyllid newydd gan y Nationwide Foundation a fydd yn cael ei ddefnyddio i wella'r cymorth sydd eisoes yn cael ei ddarparu gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Bydd y prosiect yn cefnogi 26 o grwpiau cydweithredol i sefydlu dros y ddwy flynedd nesaf.

Caiff Tai Cydweithredol eu harwain gan y gymuned, ac mae preswylwyr yn rheoli'u cartrefi'n ddemocrataidd. Mae Canolfan Cydweithredol Cymru wedi nodi awydd am ragor o dai cydweithredol yng Nghymru ac mae'n fath o dŷ a all fod yn addas ar gyfer y rhai sy'n 'amharod i rentu'; pobl sydd ar hyn o bryd wedi'u prisio allan o'r sector perchen-feddianwyr ac sydd methu â chael mynediad at dai cydweithredol.

Trwy ddefnyddio'r cyllid newydd, bydd Canolfan Cydweithredol Cymru yn ymgysylltu ag arbenigwyr i weithio gyda phrosiectau tai cydweithredol lleol ar ddatblygu cymunedol, yn ogystal â materion sy'n ymwneud â modelau trefniadaeth cyfreithiol, ariannol a busnes. Bydd y cymorth hwn yn galluogi'r mentrau cydweithredol hyn i ddod yn hyfyw, yn gadarn ac yn weithredol.

Mae'r Nationwide Foundation yn rhoi grant o £40,000 i Ganolfan Cydweithredol Cymru. Mae'r Nationwide Foundation yn ariannwr elusennol sydd am weld pawb yn y DU yn cael mynediad at gartref teilwng fforddiadwy. Un o'r ffyrdd y mae'n gwneud hyn yw trwy gefnogi modelau graddadwy amgen sy'n darparu tai fforddiadwy. Mae'r Nationwide Foundation yn gweithio gyda sefydliadau elusennol o amgylch y DU a'r prosiect hwn yw'r cyntaf o'r strategaeth bresennol i gael ei ddyfarnu yng Nghymru.

Dywedodd Leigh Pearce, Prif Weithredwr Dros Dro y Nationwide Foundation:

"Rydym bob amser yn chwilio am fodelau amgen arloesol a hyfyw ar gyfer tai sy'n creu cartrefi fforddiadwy teilwng. O ganlyniad i'r cyllid hwn i Ganolfan Cydweithredol Cymru, rydym yn disgwyl gweld cynnydd hirdymor yn nifer y cartrefi cydweithredol fforddiadwy yng Nghymru. Rydym yn croesawu'r gydnabyddiaeth y mae Llywodraeth Cymru eisoes wedi'i rhoi i'r model graddadwy hwn ar gyfer tai."

Derek Walker yw Prif Weithredwr Canolfan Cydweithredol Cymru, a dywedodd:

"Rydym yn ddiolchgar iawn i'r Nationwide Foundation am gefnogi'r prosiect pwysig ac arloesol hwn yng Nghymru. Mae canfod tai fforddiadwy'n anodd i bobl sy'n sownd yn y bwlch rhwng darpariaeth gymdeithasol a gallu fforddio camu ymlaen i'r ysgol dai.

“Mae tai cydweithredol yn cynnig ateb sy'n ddeniadol i lawer gan eu bod yn cefnogi perchnogaeth ac yn annog cymuned. Mae potensial enfawr sydd heb ei wireddu o ran tai cydweithredol yng Nghymru a bydd y prosiect hwn yn datblygu cymunedau cydweithredol go iawn ac yn dod â thai cydweithredol i'r brif ffrwd".

Bwriad prosiect Tai Cydweithredol Canolfan Cydweithredol Cymru yw ysgogi a chynyddu'r cyflenwad o dai cydweithredol yng Nghymru. Mae eisoes yn cefnogi nifer o brosiectau tai cydweithredol peilot, a dylai’r cyntaf gael ei feddiannu a bod yn weithredol erbyn haf 2015. Mae'r prosiect yn cefnogi datblygu amrywiaeth o fodelau tai cydweithredol gwahanol ac mae'n ceisio gwella sgiliau ac arbenigedd aelodau o gynlluniau tai cydweithredol yng Nghymru i sicrhau eu cynaliadwyedd.