Who we are
St Marks is a Short Life Housing Cooperative established in London in 1980 as a registered Friendly Society.
With around twenty members at any one time, our aim is to lease vacant Housing Association properties while they await refurbishment or reassignment.
All our prospective members are carefully vetted and enjoy good relations with their neighbours, contributing to the overall safety and upkeep of their vicinity. All members attend monthly Co-op meetings where we discuss and vote on property management issues. When we first receive a property, the co-op team will clear rubbish, repair, clean and decorate. We ensure all members have gas checks and hot water.
Properties are currently licensed to us through Stadium Housing, Walterton and Elgin Community Housing, Peabody, Notting Hill Housing Trust, Newlon and Kensington Housing Trust, on the undertaking that we vacate the premises on request. As such we perform a valuable service, protecting properties from illegal usage or squatting, maintaining a “lived-in” atmosphere.
Our history has recently be compiled through a project by Proboscis, and the final document can be dowloaded from here.
