Scenarios
Worked examples of how different property shapes translate into capital, loans, monthly costs, and per-member contributions.
Before the numbers: terminology
Capital pledge
Money you commit up-front to help buy the property. Becomes your stake in the Community Benefit Society (CBS). Typically paid as a combination of cash savings and sale of an existing home.
Rent pledge
Monthly amount you commit to pay for living on and using the site. Collectively, rent pledges need to cover loan repayments + interest + monthly bills (insurance, council tax, utilities commons, maintenance fund, CBS admin). Rent is not a substitute for capital — it sits alongside it.
Income projection
Year-by-year pound figure you think a specific feature of the property (main barn, paddock, annex) will earn from enterprises (workshops, market garden, residential lettings, events). Sums up across the group so we can see how realistic the overall business plan is, especially against Resonance's 2-year repayment.
Target capital
Property asking price plus an approximate 10% buffer for SDLT, legal fees, survey, and CBS setup. The vote cards show target as price × 1.10.
Community vs residential (for Resonance)
Our working assumption: shared buildings (event barn, workshop, meeting space, shared kitchen) and any community-serving infrastructure are "community"; private dwellings (main farmhouse, cottages, annexes, tiny homes) are "residential". Resonance will fund only the community slice; residential must come from member equity, a residential loan, or community-share capital.
Resonance Finance
Social impact lender. For us: up to 100% of the community-portion cost, 2-year repayment window. 0% rate in England, 8% in Wales. See Legal & Finance for full terms.
Fixed assumptions below: Resonance at 0% over 2 years (England); community-share capital at 3% interest-only, principal returned at year 10; fees/setup ~10% on top of asking price; monthly running costs (bills, insurance, council tax, maintenance) estimated per scenario. Residential loan rate and term are adjustable via the sliders in the comparison table at the bottom of the page.
Scenario A1 — £1.2m, fully self-funded
10 members · no loan · no Resonance
A large rural site with main farmhouse, two cottages, an annex, a barn convertible to workshop, and ~10 acres. Group buys it outright from pooled capital.
Funding stack
| Property price | £1,200,000 |
| + ~10% fees | £120,000 |
| Target capital | £1,320,000 |
| Member equity | £1,320,000 |
| Residential loan | £0 |
| Resonance | £0 |
| Community shares | £0 |
Monthly picture
| Loan service | £0 |
| Resonance service | £0 |
| Share interest | £0 |
| Running costs / bills | £2,000 |
| Total per month | £2,000 |
| Per member (avg, 10) | £200 |
Takeaway: if the group can raise the full target in capital, monthly obligation collapses to running costs only. Each member averages ~£132k in and ~£200/mo out. Capital pledges can vary wildly (£0 → £250k) as long as the total lands.
Scenario A2 — £1.2m, half equity + half residential loan
10 members · £660k residential loan · no Resonance
Same property. Half of the target comes from member capital; the rest is a residential loan at the slider rate and term. This is the "we can't raise it all" case.
Funding stack
| Target capital | £1,320,000 |
| Member equity | £660,000 |
| Residential loan | £660,000 |
| Resonance | £0 |
| Community shares | £0 |
Monthly picture
| Loan service | — |
| Resonance service | £0 |
| Share interest | £0 |
| Running costs / bills | £2,000 |
| Total per month | — |
| Per member (avg, 10) | — |
Takeaway: each member averages £66k in upfront, and ~—/mo out. Slide the rate down to ~5% if the group qualifies for a standard residential mortgage and the monthly cost drops roughly a quarter.
Scenario B — £1m English property with £300k Resonance slice
10 members · £350k residential loan · £300k Resonance (2y 0%)
Property in England. £300k of the cost is a stone barn we'd convert into a shared workshop + events space — this is the "community" portion Resonance will fund (0%, 2 years). Residential dwellings make up the £700k remainder.
Funding stack
| Property price | £1,000,000 |
| + ~10% fees | £100,000 |
| Target capital | £1,100,000 |
| Member equity | £450,000 |
| Residential loan | £350,000 |
| Resonance (community) | £300,000 |
| Community shares | £0 |
Monthly picture — Years 1-2
| Loan service | — |
| Resonance service | £12,500 |
| Share interest | £0 |
| Running costs / bills | £2,000 |
| Total per month | — |
| Per member (avg, 10) | — |
Monthly picture — Year 3 onwards
| Loan service | — |
| Resonance service | £0 |
| Running costs / bills | £2,000 |
| Total per month | — |
| Per member (avg, 10) | — |
Takeaway: Resonance reduces upfront equity needed by £300k, but the 2-year repayment hits hard (~£12,500/mo on top of everything else). Year 1-2 is tough; from year 3 monthly costs drop sharply. Requires the group to be earning substantially from community enterprises (workshops, events, lettings) during the Resonance phase — that's what the income projections on the vote cards are there to surface.
Scenario C — £450k small property, 3 members
3 members · no loan · no Resonance
A smaller site: ~£450k for a cottage, outbuilding, and a few acres. Three members can cover it outright without any external finance.
Funding stack
| Property price | £450,000 |
| + ~10% fees | £45,000 |
| Target capital | £495,000 |
| Member equity | £495,000 |
| Residential loan | £0 |
| Resonance | £0 |
Monthly picture
| Loan service | £0 |
| Resonance service | £0 |
| Running costs / bills | £1,200 |
| Total per month | £1,200 |
| Per member (avg, 3) | £400 |
Takeaway: ~£165k per member. Lower ceiling, lower monthly, but also fewer people means less collective enterprise capacity and more concentration risk if one wants to exit. This shape is realistic if the group splits into two sites.
Scenario D — £1.2m with community share issue
10 members · no residential loan · £400k community shares · £300k Resonance
Full debt-ethical stack: avoid a bank residential loan entirely by raising £400k via a community share offer (external ethical investors — friends, LWA network, ethex). Resonance covers the community slice; member equity covers the remaining residential gap.
Funding stack
| Target capital | £1,320,000 |
| Member equity | £620,000 |
| Residential loan | £0 |
| Resonance (community) | £300,000 |
| Community shares | £400,000 |
Monthly picture — Years 1-2
| Loan service | £0 |
| Resonance service | £12,500 |
| Share interest (3%) | £1,000 |
| Running costs / bills | £2,000 |
| Total per month | £15,500 |
| Per member (avg, 10) | £1,550 |
Monthly picture — Year 3 to 10
| Loan service | £0 |
| Resonance service | £0 |
| Share interest (3%) | £1,000 |
| Running costs / bills | £2,000 |
| Total per month | £3,000 |
| Per member (avg, 10) | £300 |
Takeaway: avoids bank debt entirely. Years 1-2 are the hardest part (Resonance dominates) but year 3-10 monthlies are lower than Scenario A2. Note: £400k of community-share capital needs to be repaid by year 10 (typical withdrawable-share horizon), either by refinancing or the group buying it out as it becomes affordable.
Side-by-side comparison
Drag the sliders to see how residential loan terms shift the monthly burden across every scenario. 10% is conservative — typical residential mortgages are ~5%, but the group may not qualify for standard lending given the CBS ownership model. Y1-2 figures assume Resonance is being serviced; Y3+ figures are after Resonance is paid off.
| Scenario | Price | Members | Capital / member (avg) | Funding mix | Per member /mo (Y1-2) | Per member /mo (Y3+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 — Self-funded £1.2m | £1.2m | 10 | £132,000 | 100% equity | £200 | £200 |
| A2 — 50/50 equity + loan | £1.2m | 10 | £66,000 | 50% equity + 50% loan | — | — |
| B — £1m + Resonance slice | £1.0m | 10 | £45,000 | equity + loan + Resonance | — | — |
| C — Small site, 3 members | £450k | 3 | £165,000 | 100% equity | £400 | £400 |
| D — Community-share stack | £1.2m | 10 | £62,000 | equity + shares + Resonance (no bank) | £1,550 | £300 |
Ready to pledge against a real property?
Head to the Properties page to see live listings and cast your capital / rent / income pledges. Everyone's pledges combine on the card totals, so the group can watch collective intent converge on the properties that actually work.