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Giroscope - Hull
Origins
Giroscope was formed in 1985 by a group of ex-students and unemployed young people who decided to do something positive about the problem of homelessness. They were fed up with renting poor private sector housing so decided to take advantage of the cheap house prices and bought a property. They did this by getting together their giro cheques and borrowing funds.
A year later Giroscope constituted as a workers’ co-operative and managed to persuade the bank to lend them money to finance several more houses.
Properties
For almost 25 years Giroscope has been buying, renovating and letting properties in West Hull for people in housing need. To date, Giroscope has acquired and renovated 23 houses, 7 flats, 3 offices, a shop, a meeting space and 3,000 square feet of workshop space, helping many hundreds of people over the years.
Renovation
Giroscope believes that being environmentally responsible and sustainable should not be an afterthought in their work, but actually drive what they do and how they do it. For example they make sure that their properties are as energy-efficient as possible and they make use of renewable energy systems, such as solar panels, on some of their houses.
Over the years many people have been involved in helping to renovate the houses that Giroscope have bought. Often young people would come to us for somewhere to live and end up working with us for a year or two. People have also enjoyed the experience of working on a property that they would later live in.
After working with Giroscope people have gone onto a wide range of careers from self employed trades people to top jobs in Housing Associations and Local Authorities. They have also provided inspiration for people to set up similar projects in places such as Leeds and Birmingham.
Tenants
Giroscope houses a wide range of people, from women fleeing domestic violence, single mums, people leaving care, people leaving prison, migrant workers and simply people that find it hard to afford somewhere decent to live.
They don’t charge deposits or bonds and they welcome people who are claiming benefits. Once someone becomes a tenant in a Giroscope property it is their home for as long as they wish it to be. This security of tenure, which is of course dependent on paying the rent and abiding with our policies on anti-social behaviour, means that our tenants have somewhere safe and affordable that they can call home.
Over half of Giroscope tenants have been with them for at least five years and some for much longer. People decorate and invest in their properties in a way that they would not normally in the private rented sector, where there is very little security of tenure. Especially at the moment when many buy-to-let landlords are selling properties or going bust, meaning that people are constantly having to find somewhere new to live.
As well as providing a permanent housing for some of their tenants, other people use them as a short term solution to a particular housing crisis, that they may have encountered, before moving on to other accommodation.
Funding
Giroscope receives no statutory funding for its work. They budget so that the organisation pays for its basic running costs out of their rental income. In order to bring forward new projects they fundraise from time to time. Giroscope have received funds from a small number of trusts who have supported them over many years. They also approach other bodies for funding as and when appropriate. Giroscope prides itself on spending money prudently and making sure that donated money is used directly where it is targeted. They are a registered charity with a board of trustees.
Future Plans
Giroscope are currently expanding their operation with the finance in place to buy a further six empty houses to bring back into use. They are also investigating the possibility of purchasing another commercial building and another shop.
Our bankers, Triodos are an ethical bank who specialise in lending to charities and environmental projects. They have steered well clear of the current banking crisis and as such are in a position to continue to fund our expanding housing project.
Contact:
info@giroscope.co.uk
Tel: 01482 576 374
