Are you interested in living in a 1 or 2 bedroom flat in LILAC Cohousing Community?
Expressions of interest: ASAP
Open day: 29th March 2025
Applicants day (induction): 12th April 2025
Deadline for applications: 24th April 2025
About us:
We are a vibrant and friendly community of 32 adults and 12 children and young people. We are community-focused and committed to a greener future. LILAC stands for ‘Low Impact Living Affordable Community’, and we live across 20 straw bale homes, a Common House and shared facilities and gardens. Established in 2013 in Kirkstall (3 miles west of Leeds city centre), we are a cooperative and a ‘Mutual Home Ownership Society’, meaning members own LILAC together. Find out more by looking through the rest of this website.
Current vacancies:
We are currently advertising 3 vacancies; one 2-bedroom, first-floor flat with balcony, one 1-bedroom, first-floor flat with balcony and one 1-bedroom, second-floor flat with balcony. Five adult members and two children are moving on to pastures new. To re-balance our multi-generational community we are particularly looking for younger adults and children, though not exclusively.
All applicants must:
- – Want to live in and fully contribute to a community.
- – Wholeheartedly support our vision, values and aims.
- – Be able to pay the deposit and meet other necessary financial criteria.
- – Fully engage with our recruitment process, so that we all get to know each other.
More about capacity and skills:
Lilac thrives on the participation, socialising and the work of our members. So we would like to make sure that those who are moving out are replaced by a total of 4 new members, ideally more. It is important that you have enthusiasm for active involvement and see Lilac as place to live in the medium to long term. Our community needs a broad range of people and skills across our task teams which include: finance, secretarial/legal, landscape, maintenance, food, common house, process and learning teams. We believe that we all bring our own unique contribution, and we recognise that our energy and capacity naturally varies at different stages in our lives.
Our current financial position:
A deposit and set monthly payments, based on a percentage of annual household income, is required. These payments buy members ‘equity units’ and allows the LILAC MHOS Ltd mortgage to be paid.
The table below shows indicative deposit and income requirement figures for a 100% equity unit allocation at each of the three available properties. You can find more detailed information on financial requirements further down this page.
| 10% deposit | Minimum total household net income required | Total monthly payment | |
| 1-bed first floor flat | £8,608 | £20,447 | £596 |
| 1-bed second floor flat | £9,194 | £21,649 | £631 |
| 2-bed first floor flat | £13,255 | £31,402 | £793 |
In line with our commitment to affordability, we wish to encourage applicants who are not currently homeowners, who may have a household income at the lowest end of our eligibility criteria and only the minimum 10% deposit. However, our exiting households are withdrawing a substantial amount of money from the project. This means that at least one vacancy must be filled by incoming member(s) paying significantly more than the 10% deposit. It is also important for applicants to be aware that in a couple of years we will be replacing various parts of our homes and estate (Planned Asset Maintenance). At that stage all households will be required to finance the replacements by either putting more money in or by taking on additional debt. We expect the cost to be around 10% of each property’s existing equity unit allocation.
Application process:
Prospective applicants are invited to complete an expression of interest form and attend an Open Day on Saturday 29th March 2025. This will include an induction on living and working in Lilac and an overview of our financial model and processes. If you are unable to attend the open day you would be welcome to book onto our next learning day on Saturday 5th April. Otherwise we will do our best to arrange an alternative meeting, and can provide induction materials.
There will be a more detailed induction on the Applicants Day on 12th April. Those who decide to apply will be assigned buddies to support them developing their formal applications. We will accept these in a range of formats and mediums, including video and audio recordings.
There will then be a staged shortlisting process where some applicants will be invited to an informal 2-way interview, and finally a chance to spend time in our community in a way that works best for you (for example; day visits or overnight stay with the option of attending communal meals, meetings and workshares). We recognise the challenges and level of commitment demanded by this process and will do our best to support all applicants and their needs as best we can.
Timeframe (subject to change):
Saturday 29th March – Open Day (10:00 – 15:30)
Saturday 12th April – Applicants day
Thursday 24th April – Deadline for applications
July – final decision
Move-in date to be mutually agreed, but expected to be late summer/early autumn 2025.
Next Steps:
Fill out this google form (preferred method) or send expressions of interest directly to info@lilac.coop by 24th March 2025 with the following details:
– Name(s) of people in your household (and ages of any children)
– Any requirements, including physical access needs or communication preferences. You may also make us aware of any invisible disabilities
– Confirmation that you can or cannot attend the Open Day
You can email the Hands Team at info@lilac.coop with any questions about the vacancy or your eligibility. Please note that you may not receive a prompt response due to the time of year and our members’ availability.
Financial criteria – deposit and income scenarios:
The files below show different deposit and income scenarios for each of the three available properties. The minimum deposit is 10%. If you pay more as an initial deposit then the minimum income required begins to decrease. It is also possible to allocate between 90% and 110% of a property’s equity units. This means that if your total household income is not enough for a 100% allocation we could consider a lower allocation and likewise if you have a higher income we might discuss a higher allocation. We will explain the financial model and the different scenarios in more detail at the Open Day.
Floor Plans:
Please note that the above diagram is fairly indicative. The actual two bedroom flat that is available is the mirror image of the one shown and one of the one bed flats is as shown and the other is the mirror image, but you get the idea.