Apply to join the YorSpace Board as a Director
Who We Are
Our structure is unique: We are a Community Land Trust and Community Benefit Society which develops separate cooperatively owned Mutual Home Ownership Societies for each of our new communities. We are attracting a lot of interest from the social and cooperative housing movement and inspiring other similar models across the country.
Earlier this year, we were delighted to announce a successful raise of over £422,000 in Community Share sales, exceeding our minimum raise by quite some way, and taking us a massive step towards our first development.
In March, of course, the world changed, with the onset of Covid 19. The impact on public finances has been severe, and YorSpace continues to work tirelessly to protect our funding streams and ensure we meet our affordability goals. With Covid, we have seen an even clearer focus on growing inequalities in access to decent homes, with strong implications for public health and wellbeing.
In contrast to this, we have built our reputation on designing homes which are environmentally sustainable, affordable over the long term, in communities where residents care about and support each other. If we want to know how the post-Covid future looks, this, surely, is it.
The recently published Government Planning White Paper Planning for the Future could offer opportunities to make it easier to develop future homes. But will that be at the cost of local accountability and quality of design? YorSpace is watching closely, and will do all we can to protect our three aims of affordability, sustainability and community, in our response to consultation.
We don’t shy away from the many challenges in changing our homes and communities for the better. We need the right people on board to help us overcome those challenges, building not just the new community at Lowfield Green, but other future communities as well.
How To Apply
The YorSpace Director role is voluntary but extremely rewarding and impactful. We're keen to hear from a diverse range of people with energy, imagination and a passion for leading a new wave of cooperative developments which are set to change the shape of the housing market over the next decade.
Applicants would ideally live or work in York or the Leeds City Region and have an understanding of development finance and housing (although this is definitely not a prerequisite). We particularly welcome female, Black and Minority Ethnic applicants.
If you think this could be of interest to you, please submit your details using this form:
Contact us at hello@yorspace.org for an informal chat and/or to request any further details.