Background
The Directors of the South West Inner City Housing Cooperative Ltd
(SWISH) wish to advise SWISH tenants that it is planning to convert
SWISH from a co-operative to a company limited by guarantee. This was
announced at the 2007 Annual General Meeting
This information provides further detail on the process. All SWISH
tenants will have now received information through the post on the
proposed change.
You can review or download the existing SWISH Rules and the proposed Consitution for a company limited by guarantee
The proposed change will have no effect on your tenancy or services provided to you by SWISH
Why Convert from a Cooperative to a Company Limited by Guarantee.
The SWISH directors believe the change to company limited by guarantee will advantage SWISH by
1. Enabling SWISH to provide more housing to meet housing need.
The
NSW state government’s growth strategy for housing associations NSW
Planning for the Future: Community Housing www.housing.nsw.gov.au
foresees the sector growing from 15,000 to 30,000 dwellings over ten
years. Most of this growth will go to designated growth provider
housing associations. SWISH has successfully attained growth provider
status and growth providers are required to be incorporated as a
company limited by guarantee. Beyond the requirement by the Office of
Community Housing, the other major benefit is the partnerships with
private sector to deliver affordable housing.
2. Developing partnerships to meet housing need
In the future it is expected that community housing sector will expand
through partnership with the private sector, for example, the Federal
government has announced the National Affordable Rental Scheme. The
success of this scheme depends on the injection of private sector
funds. The private sector is more familiar with the company structures
and regulation of such entities. Companies are regulated federally by
the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (www.asic.gov.au)
which is responsible for administering the Corporations Act.
What Does SWISH Need To Do ?
Our legal advice, and that of the Registrar of Co-operatives,
require SWISH to undertake the following steps to convert to a company
limited by guarantee.
- Incorporate a guarantee in the SWISH Rules.
This requires members to sign a Declaration in writing to be bound by
the SWISH Rules as amended from time to time, by 21 November 2008.
- At
the Annual General Meeting, 28 November 2008 members will vote on
incorporating the guarantee and remove those members who do not agree
in writing to be bound by the SWISH Rules as amended from time to time.
- Following
the AGM undertake a Postal Ballot of members to convert from a
cooperative to a company limited by guarantee. This requires members to
adopt a new constitution.
What Do I Need to Do ?
To assist you through this process we have attached
What impact do these changes have on my Tenancy?
The change in incorporation will have no impact on your tenancy or
housing, you do not have to be a member to get housing or remain in
your existing property
Further Information
If you require further information please contact the SWISH Executive Officer on 9699-6055 or email at reception@swish.org.au or fax on 9699-7055 with your questions
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