Our Community Share Issue is drawing to a close soon, so we thought now is a good time to encourage would-be investors to take a closer look at the benefits of putting money into Yorspace.
Take a minute to think of all things slow: slow radio, slow TV, slow food. A uniquely unhurried experience, allowing you to get off the merry go round of instant gratification. An experience which stays with you long after the event has – the journey being as important as the destination.
Now translate that into a new way of investing - patient capital – and you see what Yorspace is offering its investors. Think of putting your money somewhere where you get a return, but not in a rapid turnaround way: Where the journey of your investment takes in a radical reshaping of the local housing market, creating new homes for people who would never get their own home in the current market, and creating the bedrock of future developments; Where the prize of forever affordable homes is within touching distance for people locked out of the housing market.
York is a beautiful city, but it hides a stark fact: According to a recent Post Office survey, there is no area of the City considered affordable for first time buyers. This creates a growing inter-generational disparity between those who own their homes already (typically the over 50s), and those who do not (typically the under 40s). We need to respond to this to keep York open as a place to live for people of all ages, especially young families who contend with the added burden of childcare costs.
Investment in YorSpace directly contributes to making our homes more affordable. Simply put, money borrowed from investors is less expensive than money borrowed from a bank. This saving is directly passed onto residents who are in turn able to pay small deposit and smaller monthly contributions.
Investing in Yorspace Community Shares offers a 2.5% return after three years, and, as with any investment, your money can be withdrawn over time. With investment available for as little as £250, the chance to transform the lives of local people is within relatively easy reach. However, we would love to keep your investment much longer, so we can maximise its impact on the local housing stock.
Our first 19 homes, shortly to start at Lowfield Green, are hopefully the first of many. We are already in discussions with potential partners to develop many more forever affordable homes over the next few years. Your investment capital will contribute to this long term vision, as the surplus generated by resident’s payment will act as seed funding for future projects.
We call this patient capital, but it’s also active capital: Investing in Yorspace now can reap significant social dividends in future. To invest go to https://www.ethex.org.uk/YorSpace