history of CDS Co-operatives
our history and development
CDS Co-operatives was formed in 1975 as a daughter society to the Co-ownership Development Society Ltd (the original CDS) which developed and supported co-ownership housing.
Originally called CDS Co-operative Housing Society Ltd, CDS Co-operatives was set up to enable housing co-operatives providing housing for rent to be developed using government housing association grants, (now called social housing grants), which were introduced by The Housing Act 1974. In order to develop housing with the benefit of housing association grants it was necessary to register with The Housing Corporation. Registration was restricted to organisations exclusively developing housing for rent. As a co-ownership housing provider, the Co-ownership Development Society was not eligible to register. Hence the need to establish a new organisation for this purpose. Following the decline in the financial viability of co-ownership housing development, the Co-ownership Development Society Ltd ceased trading in 1977.
After 1975 CDS Co-operatives grew steadily through the development of co-operative housing projects for rent and through providing services to co-operatives that had originally been developed by other organisations which were not able to provide the full range of services co-operatives need. We are now the largest specialist co-operative housing service agency in England.