7th September – Al Carns raised the case of SCD during Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government orals.

Our MP Al Carns stood in the House of Commons and raised the case of Stirchley Co-operative Development during Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government orals. His work, combined with months of community advocacy, has now secured him a meeting with Matthew Pennycook, the Minister of Housing to talk about what is happening with Stirchley Co-operative Development.

A meeting with the Minister of Housing is a chance to make the case for co-operative and community-led homes — to advocate for the importance of democratic participation in housing, economic democracy in the workplace, and communities having a genuine stake in the places they live and work. We thank Al Carns and his team for their continued support. This is an incredible opportunity to share our story, and we look forward to the out coming of the meeting.

What was aid:

Alistair Carns, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans):

Community-led housing plays a vital role in meeting our housing targets. In my Constituency, the Stirchley Co-operative Development has built 39 social and affordable homes, but delays and cost overruns by the housing association have pretty much dropped everyone into despair. Will the Minister meet me to bring a resolution to the issue?

Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government):

I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend about the issue.

1st September – An update from Rach one of Loaf’s head bakers.

In February 2026, Loaf Bakery & Cookery School moved out of our premises on Pershore Road. Our landlord required six months’ notice, and based on what GreenSquareAccord had told us, we expected to move into Stirchley Co-operative Development in late 2025. Wanting to give ourselves the best possible chance of a smooth transition, we meticulously planned ahead giving ourselves months of transition time, and crowdfunded £32,000+ (as 1 September 2026) for the move.

It’s now September, and GreenSquareAccord still hasn’t allowed Loaf Bakery to move in. Instead, we’ve watched incredibly slow negotiations drag on, met with repeated promises that the building will be finished “any day now.”

The cost of delays:

🥨 £100,000 in lost revenue

🍞 Reserves nearly depleted

🥐 Our main revenue driver, the cookery school, on hold

🥯 Staff on zero-hour contracts for 6+ months

🥖 A daily hour-long drive to Redditch just to bring fresh bread to our community

🥪 The mental toll of 6+ months of uncertainty

As always, thank you to the businesses Anosh, Deadbeatbham , and The Steamhouse for your support over these past months!

If you would like to support loaf.coop our crowdfunder stays open!