members pay atācost for stays
buyingāin with shares as a coāowner
for partātime coliving from just ā¬2k,
What's a coliving hub?
A shared home and workspace, where we also share some of our purpose and learnings.
For a workation to escape routine, as a retreat to dig into projects, or as a base.
Be you an entrepreneur, remote worker, digital nomad, a creative, or anything else!
Creating amazing new spaces, reinvigorating old ones!
Benefit from shared facilities (cinema, bikes, workspaces, ice-cream maker, ā¦).
Get closer to nature whilst remaining connected to the wider world.
Stay affordably, buying into use of properties as you are able.
Be part of community respecting innovation and independence.
Our purpose as a member-owned housing coāoperative will be providing affordable coāownership, giving us flexible and guaranteed use of spaces at cost. With fractional shares for part-time use, dedicated units, or as an investmentā¦
As participants in a dynamic ecosystem we share its opportunities whilst generating rental revenue as a social enterprise ā reinvesting in hosting workshops, talks, and activities, enriching not just ourselves, but the wider community. By embracing diversity and serendipity as a community we'll create vitality in our lives!
The plan āpart deuxā the south of Franceš«š·
Sorely overlooked by digital nomads, absurdly popular with tourists, yet actually cheap to buy ā with no surprises, except maybe how many pastries you can eat.š„ Infrastructure is good, and everything runs like clockwork. Well, except when they're on strikeā¦
Candidate properties
- 40mins to beach in Haut Languedoc āļø
600+m2 ~ā¬135k Ā· best all-rounder for towns and nature; few dedicated units, easy - borders of the Cevennes and Ardeche
1500m2 ā¬93kĀ· amazing diverse nature and good attractions, many cheap studios, fair bit of work - medieval town in the Averyon
2600m2 ~ā¬175k Ā· ginormous with land, decent attractions and countryside, big private apartments - bottom of the central Pyrenees
2000m2 ~ā¬150k Ā· decent countryside but few attractions, more intentional living with tinyhomes
Most of course require work ā a new fitout for optimal layout and facilities. If we plan well, rewarding volunteers, and help ourselves, costs can be reduced despite being Western Europe!
- close to public transit and shops
- strolls from the door and activities nearby
- choice of accommodation ā studios, ensuites, basic rooms, 'pods'
- ergonomic coworking ā separate lively and quiet workspaces
- a lounge, casual areas, library, privacy nooks
- outdoor space, hopefully with sauna and firepit/bbq
- multiple station kitchen for collaborative cookups or independence
- address use and luggage storage for the (digital) nomads amongst you
- a minibus for communal trips
Smaller means more locations faster. Yet bigger could be amazing if say just ten of us stuck ā¬20k together to get started ā offering performance spaces, workshops, dedicated units and more!
Who's running this?
Hello there!Ā I'm Jacob, mildly nomadic, and yes digital ā yet grounded in the real world. Having founded the first coliving hub with public coworking, in 2010 in Delhi (of all places!?), I've embarked on this project, looking for adventurous community-minded folks to join me.
Yours-truly (right) with one of the cool owners of Bansko Nomad Fest who's doing something similar, they bought an Auberge in Switzerland, and you may have heard of the huge Semkovo coliving in Bulgaria with its 225 units also a co-opā¦
This approach is focussed on guaranteed flexible use through part ownership (or dedicated units) with purpose built facilities, maybe growing to multiple properties ā amongst which we may roam or base ourselves.
Pre-pandemic I found an old mill in the Portuguese mountains and hundreds of you were interested; I met the town council and some of us visited during a parsnip festival(!) but ultimately rejected it, also umm pandemic travelā¦
I'm looking to restart the project, since doing renovations here in France, so now keen to find folks to collaborate with. I'm also up for other countries (Albania, Italy,ā¦?) or if you'd be up for it, to commercialise (there are precedentsā¦)?!
If you'd like to chat, I'll be on the MarseilleāAthens NomadCruise, at Bansko Nomad Fest (June 16thāJuly 13th), or book a call.
Get on board! š
The project requires your support ā I'll only move ahead if you pledge to be part of it ā so why not participate in a community you can return to, at-cost for whatever share you own?!
What's a pledge? ā Simply expressing your interest to join the co-operative, paying for shares only if we approve a property. Otherwise simply walk away.
Help build the community
Do you know folks whom you'd like to participate in the community with? Earn shares for everyone that you introduce whilst helping to move the project forward. Simply make sure you've subscribed with your email and tell them to give your details when they pledge. If they purchase shares (first phase only; ex. investment) and are accepted as a member, they'll get a 5% discount and you'll get 5% as shares.
(On the first 40% of issued shares.) Please contact me to let me know other contact details, or if you need a referral link as people you know will remember to give your details, but those you don't, won'tā¦
I'd love to have a cofounder who'd better handle promotion and outreach than me, whether just for a first mutualised property, or towards a grand commercial approach. Might it be you?
We'll run it togetherāto all have a stake!
Whether you participate as a co-owner, an investor, or simply visit on rental, you will do so as a member of our cooperative society, functioning within the space as a do-ocracy. To join us make a pledge then once we've agreed our plans, you'll be invited to apply for our community sharesā¦
The simple way to consider how it works as a member, is that when you buy into the co-op (with shares), you get to use the co-op's facilities at cost (a significant discount on public rental rates), proportional to your share of capacity (fractional use) for the value of shares you own. When it no longer suits anymore, you can withdraw your shares to get the money you paid for the shares back. (About the modelā¦)
Operations
- incorporated as a Co-operative Society in the UK for the mutual benefit of its members
- fractional co-ownership with community shares, returning their cost if you withdrawā
- guaranteed use rights codified in the co-op rules held by the regulator
- flexible booking with at least 30% unallocated advance capacity
- volunteer staff (given stipends) looking after driving and cleaning
- maintenance fund covers costs into the future to avoid bad surprises
- community fund from rental revenue surplus allows us to invest in good surprises
- may expand as a network of multiple properties exchanging co-owner use
(The following are indicative.)
Operational costs cover recurring expenses for utilities, volunteers, and (importantly!) maintenance/renewals:
- under ā¬300 per month member expenses for any time with your shares
lower for cohousing/dedicated units
Capital costs are what we're raising to purchase, renovate and fit-out the property, split between multiple shareholders:
- coliving shares give use of the facilities at cost, flexibly adjusting to less time in a better unit or season (studio, summer), or more in a cheaper (pod, winter)
- cohousing shares (where available) give dedicated use of a private unit and all facilities, at cost (with your own fitout and decoration)
- preference shares give dividends up to 10% (for potentially cost-free stays)
If you stay longer or less than your share, you can trade with other membersā” (typically at reduced rates), else pay the standard rental rates.
Our valuesā¦ we don't believe in believing too much!
š§ Diversity and š§ dynamism.
How can I join-in?
- pledge, confirming with ā¬1
- join the whatsapp France group
- vote on and debate properties for plans to be created
- a group visit will be arranged for best candidate
- founding members form the co-op purchasing shares
- when pledges and plans match, founding members will open membership
- you'll buy into the co-op with a deposit towards your shareholding
- an offer will be made for purchase and if accepted its deposit paid
(may repeat, with members able to withdraw their deposit) - shareholdings will be paid up to conclude purchase and get the keys
- later members will join, closing funding for renovations
(late-issue shares shall have a higher cost) - any unused funds will be returned to shareholders
(could be used to acquire shares in the next property)
See the questions page for more details.