Land ownership as a Cooperative 

The 24 hectare property for the Ecovillage is owned by the Cooperative that was set up for this project. The land went into the name of the cooperative in June 2024, after a promissory contract period that started in July 2022. 

Part of the payment for the land has been from the money invested by the co-owner resident members, and part is from loans made by supporters of the project. 

As more co-owner residents join the ecovillage, they will invest into the project. This money will be used to payback the lenders. 

(See investing page)

 

Co Ownership

Resident co-owners each have the same amount of decision making power about the land and the shared assets. The founding members have started the project with a draft Ecovillage design, and future members will have a say in how it evolves. (see ecovillage design page and governance page)

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The current design is to assign common areas and private plots for the resident members. 

A long-term leasehold contract gives them long-term security to live and work on their home plot of land. It gives some autonomy for them to make it their own, within certain restraints and conditions set by the coop (for example fire safety, size of house, ecological principles, having guests etc. Still to be decided)

The contract agrees a value of the plots and a schedule for rent and maintenance payments, depending on how much they invested at the start when joining. 

 

Membership Joining Investment

The price to join the Ecovillage reflects the size of the plot being taken and the total projected costs of the project, including the land, legal fees, common facilities etc.
The joining investment is paid to the coop in exchange for membership and the contract giving the rights to use the assigned plot. 

The initial joining investment is around €10,000 - €20,000 euros per plot.

Then an aim to each invest a further €10,000 - €20,000 within around 6-8 years.

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These prices depend on the member's situation and which plot they want to lease. 
The more that joining members can invest at the start, the earlier we can develop the project. 

There is some flexibility, and we encourage interested potential members to talk to us about their budgets and financial situation.

For example, the initial joining investment could be on the lower end of the range for those who have a suitable specialisation and are ready to establish a project here for their livelihood, or enhance an exisiting livelihood project. 

There would need to be a good plan to grow the livelihood project at the ecovillage and a realistic plan to be making revenue. From this revenue, the ongoing regular payments would be made towards the resident ‘buy-in’ investment, up to a target amount.

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For example:

A couple could have a target total investment of €30k

Initial investment of €10k

Ongoing payments totaling €3.3k per year for 6 years = €20k (equivalent to €278 per month)

 

Example livelihood projects:

• Natural building - being paid to build homes at the ecovillage for the other residents
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• Permaculture and Regenerative agriculture - commercial scale production that can be sold to local Agricultural Cooperative distributors and local consumers
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• Alternative child education project - ie, forest school, waldorf, nature school project on the land for families living here and in the local area
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• Well being and therapy practice - regular sessions with other residents and local people, plus wider events and retreats 

 

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Selling home plots

Members can develop their home plots by building houses, facilities, gardens etc. in line with the licencing we acquire. Records of the costs and labour should be kept and reported to the administrator as the plot is developed. 
If a member then wants to leave, or change home plot, they will be able to sell the plot to someone that the coop accepts as a member. The seller can help recruit new members if needed. 
 

The price of the plot can be calculated to include the joining investment that was made, plus ongoing investments and the value of what has been developed on the plot. 

The minimum joining investment price might increases as the common land and facilities are developed. 
 

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Sweat equity

Sweat Equity is a way to acquire a share in the value of the land and other assets of the project through working, rather than investing money.
For people who want to join the project, but don't have capital to invest, we can offer a few places for resident co-owners who will earn their share in the project via sweat equity. 
This would need to be the right person who has a good set of skills and a good attitude and energy to commit to the work involved. We would first ask them to explore all possible ways to raise some money first, for example: do they have any relatives who could give them inheritance before death?
We can only offer these places in balance with a number of people joining who can invest, as we need the funds to pay off the land and the private loans we took to be able to buy the land. 

Sweat Equity will also be acquired by residents from the work they do to develop their home plots. This is a way to honour such work and reflect it in the price when a home plot is sold/transferred to the next resident occupants. 

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We will also assign sweat equity for work done to develop the project which is more than the agreed expectation for each resident. For example a resident might build a common facility building using their agreed work hours, but to get it done sooner, the group might agree to give them sweat equity for 15 extra hours per week for the next three months. The hours would be recorded and the resident would have credit in the coop to spend or to receive payment later when income allows. 

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