who will live in our homes villages? ...or, maybe you want to live here?
alice: *student* resident case study
meet 'alice' 👩🎨
Alice is 22. she is an art student studying at university in london. she found out about a free space in a homefolk community from an older student who was moving out and she decided to apply to take his place
currently, she is paying a social rent for her place to the housing coop & plans to stay after she graduates and eventually transition to a mortgage within the housing coop. she likes the homefolk village as it's super affordable, even on a student loan, and that allows her the financial freedom to paint and create on her own terms. she also enjoys living within a like minded creative community and spending time hanging out in the common room with her neighbours from different backgrounds
she loves spending time outside the front of her home, tending to her plants and painting passers-by from time to time. in her free time, she cycles to local art galleries and works part-time for a local community cafe
ibrahim: *key worker* resident case study
meet 'ibrahim' 🧑⚕️
ibrahim is 30. he is an experienced nurse working long hours at the large hospital in east london. he's been working full time and renting for almost a decade but has managed to save close to nothing in that time. when the opportunity to live in a homefolk village came up, he took a chance... now he is paying a small mortgage to 'own' his home in the housing coop for this community
now he loves being able to afford to live so close to the hospital and can even walk to work. he enjoys spending his free time in a friendly and understanding community that cares as much as he does. he's not sure on staying in the homefolk village forever - when the time comes, he understands he will sell his home on for a similar price to what he bought it. luckily, with the housing costs being so much less, he is able to save up a deposit for a small flat within in a few years time and wants to start a family with his girlfriend once he's there
wesley: *sofa surfing* resident case study
meet 'wesley' 🧔
wesley is 45. he was working in hong kong as a freelance journalist for many years but recently moved to london to be closer to his aging parents who retired here
after living in his parents' one bedroom flat for a few months, he realised he needed more room as he couldn't keep sleeping on their sofa at night and caring for them by day. however, he knew that he needed to find a place in london very nearby in order to visit his parents daily. despite working hard on important stories for 20+ years, & receiving a carer's allowance, he couldn't find anything within budget and was worried he might not be able to keep caring for them
thankfully, one of his parents' neighbours invited him to apply with a group of other locals to their council, for a new a homefolk village just 2 streets away - he could stay in the local area alongside others who wanted to do the same. 8 people in the area successfully applied together and 1 year later, everyone was settling into their new community & paying an affordable social rent to the council. now that he had a place to call his own, he was able to finally balance his caring responsibilities with getting his own life back