Mary Ann Johnson Housing co-op
A group of individuals in north London who set up a housing co-op to solve their joint housing problems
Friends, we did it! In October 2024 MAJ completed the purchase of a 2 bedroom flat in Haringey and our member and her son have been living there ever since. It is a lovely little flat and it will stay in common ownership for generations to come. We couldn’t have done it without our amazing community of friends, comrades and supporters – thank you!
Mary Ann Johnson is a small - but very active! – housing cooperative.
We are now in the process of expanding the co-op and looking to buy another property to house our newest members – a woman and her son, who are about to become homeless again this summer (for the third time in two years!).
We are again reaching out to our friends and supporters to ask for donations or loans towards buying that property.
Why should I support MAJ?
Before going into the financial details, it’s important to stress that any contribution will go far beyond housing just this one family – the flat we buy will remain forever in common ownership and, in the long term, will be used as an asset that will allow the co-op to grow and house more people.
This might not solve the housing crisis, but it will remove one more property out of the hands of greedy landlords and give it back to the community. We honestly can’t think of a better way to use our collective resources!
The ask
We need to raise around £200K in the coming months and we are asking our friends, comrades and supporters to contribute via Loanstock
What are Loanstocks – these are loans that are given to housing co-ops for a set period of time (minimum five years, but, ideally, longer) and are repaid in full (as a single sum) at the end of that period.
It would be brilliant if you can lend us the money with no interest, but, if you need a return on your investment, please speak to us, as we can offer a small interest each year (better than your savings account!).
Loanstocks are legally arranged, but rest assured – MAJ has never defaulted on any of its loans and your money will be in safe hands!
(or download a printable version of the form here)
You can make a direct bank transfer (of loanstocks or donations) to:
Mary Ann Johnson Housing Co-op
Account number: 65007763
Sort code: 089299
For loanstocks, please make sure you also fill in the form above (online or send us a printed version) to let us know your loan terms.
We would love to chat to you about this, explain it all in more detail (including sharing our financial documents) and discuss how best you can help us make this dream a reality.
Don’t have money but know some rich folks who might be up for helping a small rad co-op? Feel free to share this page or direct them to us.
With gratitude, love and solidarity,
MAJ Housing Co-op members
We did it! MAJ purchased a new ground floor flat in Tottenham at the beginning of the year, securing a family home for two tenants. It is such a sense of achievement when we get another property under our belts because every home we secure takes the power and profit away from unscrupulous landlords and places it with us, the tenants. As is always the case when Mary Ann Johnson Housing Co-op buy somewhere, the new place is a real fixer upper and we are having to work hard to get it livable before our members move in. And there is always more work to be done when you get stuck into it, as we discovered when we began work on the bathroom.
Having thought it was a simple task of stripping the old tiles and replacing with new, we discovered that the plasterboard wall behind the shower was damp and unsound, so instead of just replacing tiles we will also have to remove and replace a portion of internal wall. At one point during our Sunday work day, three hammer and chisel wielding co-op members were busily ripping out tiles which was all good messy fun!
Other rooms were given a fresh lick of paint, and despite the horrific weather caused by Storm Ciara another work party busied it’s-self clearing stuff out of the rain lashed back garden.
There is still a lot more to do, from fixing the boiler to making space for a fridge (we can’t figure out where the previous tenants kept theirs – there is no space for one or sign that one ever existed in the kitchen!) and other structural issues, as well as decorating, laying floor coverings and getting it cosy. It’s a lot of work but satisfying to think that this is an affordable home to be managed by its tenants and not by greedy landlords for profit. Thank you so much as always to our funders who make all of this work possible – your generosity means one more Tottenham family have a secure and affordable home.
Well the end of 2015 saw an exciting new development for MAJ – we bought a new property! A house with a one bedroom flat downstairs and a two bedroom flat upstairs near the Spurs ground in Tottenham… in fact as I write this I can hear the singing cheering Spurs fans which I am guessing means they won.
We completed in late November 2015 and three of us moved in by mid December, and as it was a real fixer-upper the place was a bit of a building site. Downstairs had no bathroom and upstairs had no kitchen (or kitchen floor) so for about two and a half weeks the day would start early with drilling, plastering, walls going up, cabinets being hung, great big holes being made for great big pipes and one co-op member up on the roof making it sound so that the constant rain wouldn’t drip on our heads as we slept.
What a palaver! But all the main work that was needed to make it habitable was done by Christmas and now those of us who live here are really loving the feeling of a secure roof over our heads for the first time. Oh, and having moved out of a completely unmodernised building, the joys of hot showers and central heating just can’t be appreciated enough.
This has been a major achievement for MAJ – we’ve been trying to get the rest of our members safely housed for years and it feels great to have three more of us under another MAJ owned roof. Thank you so much to all of those who have helped us with loanstock, gifts, advice and moral and practical support, without you this could not have happened and we are incredibly grateful. But we can’t rest on our laurels as we still have one member in a perilously vulnerable housing situation, plus more work needs to be done on the new house (some walls and doors still need putting in, and access to the garden for the top floor flat). More about that soon.
Mary Ann Johnson Housing co-op 
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