members pay at‑cost for stays
buying‑in with shares as a co‑owner
for part‑time coliving from €2k,
Hello there! I'm Jacob, mildly nomadic, and yes digital — yet grounded in the real world. Having founded the first coliving hub having public coworking, in 2010 in Delhi (of all places!?), I've embarked on a new project, now looking for adventurous community-minded folks to join me buying a big old ruin (okay, not quite!) in France🇫🇷 to turn into a great community space and base!
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 as a co-op…
This approach is focussed on guaranteed flexible use through part ownership (or dedicated units) and growing to multiple properties — amongst which we may roam or base ourselves.
Pre-pandemic I found an old mill in the Portuguese mountains and had hundreds of you interested; I met the town council and some of us visited during a parsnip festival(!) but ultimately rejected it, also umm pandemic travel…
I'm looking to restart the project, since doing renovations here in France, I'm now keen to find folks to collaborate with creating a great new dynamic space. I'm also open to splitting in another country too (Albania, Italy, Portugal,…?), just let me know if you're up for such a crazy plan!
If you'd like to chat, I'll be on the Marseille–Athens NomadCruise, at Bansko Nomad Fest (June 16th–July 13th), or book a call.
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, …).
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 co‑operative will be providing affordable co‑ownership, giving us flexible and guaranteed use of spaces at cost. With fractional shares for part-time use, dedicated units, or as an investment…
As participants in a dynamic ecosystem we share its opportunities whilst generating rental revenue as a social enterprise — 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!
By doing it collectively, we reduce our footprints and enhance the effects, across locations…
The plan –part deux– the south of France🇫🇷
It's cheap to buy and there's no surprises, except maybe how many pastries you can eat.🥐 Property sales have fallen through the roof, 2000+ agents closed, and new renovation requirements for rentals means owners prefer to sell. Infrastructure is good, and everything runs like clockwork. Well, except when they're on strike…
It's sorely overlooked amongst digital nomads, yet absurdly popular with tourists.
Candidate properties
- 40mins to beach in Haut Languedoc ⭐️
600+m2 ~€135k · best all-rounder for towns and nature; few dedicated units - borders of the Cevennes and Ardeche
1500m2 €93k· amazing diverse nature and good attractions, many cheap studios - bottom of the central Pyrenees
2000m2 ~€150k · decent countryside but few attractions, more intentional living with tinyhomes - edge of a medieval town in the Averyon
2600m2 ~€175k · ginormous with good land, decent attractions and countryside, big private apartments
Most of course require work — a new fitout for optimal layout and facilities. If we plan well, rewarding volunteers, and help ourselves, costs will be low for great value despite being Western Europe! (I've not looked much at ready-to-use but there are some.)
- close to public transit and shops
- strolls from the door and activities nearby
- choice of accommodation — studios, ensuite, basic rooms, 'pods'
- ergonomic coworking — separate lively and quiet workspaces
- a lounge, casual areas, library and privacy nooks
- outdoor space, ideally with sauna and firepit/bbq
- multiple station kitchen and dining for collaborative cookups
- address use and luggage storage for the (digital) nomads amongst you
- a minibus for communal trips
Depends how many of us join-in. Smaller means more locations faster. Yet a bigger could be amazing if say just ten of us stuck €20k together to get started — offering performance spaces, workshops, dedicated units/tinyhouses and more!
Get on board! 🙌
The project requires your support — I'll only move ahead if you pledge to be part of it — so why not participate in a community you can return to, at-cost for whatever share you own?!
What's a pledge? — Simply expressing your interest to join the co-operative, paying for shares only if we all 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.
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't…
We'll run it together—to 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 shares…
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 model…)
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 withdraw†
- 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 €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 than your share or have none, you pay the standard rental rates. If you don't use all your share, you can trade with other members‡.
Our values… we don't believe in believing too much!
🧙 Diversity and 🧚 dynamism.
How can I join-in?
- pledge, confirming with €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.