Become a member
Members contribute between £100 and £500 a month. That capital funds housing in Nigeria, built by a workforce we train. You get a vote, a financial return, and a social return you can count.
What membership gives you
A social investment vehicle
Your funds are invested to generate financial profit in the short and the long term, in projects chosen to produce a measurable social result as well.
A route to owning property
Members get the opportunity to own their own home, or to grow an existing portfolio, on developments they helped fund.
Socioeconomic-impact profit
Counted, not claimed: youths trained on our projects, and artisans upskilled into gainful employment.
Institutional relationships
The cooperative’s standing with mortgage banks, skills agencies and employer bodies, working for your portfolio.
How membership works
What an “investment-fee contributing member” is
The constitution calls members who use the cooperative as a property investment vehicle Users, or contributing investors. To be one you agree to pay a monthly subscription of a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £500 (Article 7). You must be 16 or over, and the directors approve every application (Article 12).
What you commit to
Members agree to attend general meetings, take an active interest in the cooperative’s operation and development, and respect the confidentiality of its business decisions (Article 14). In return the cooperative commits to explaining the role of a member, training you in the skills to perform it, and keeping general meetings accessible (Articles 15 and 16).
How you leave
Resign in writing to the Secretary at any time (Article 17(c)). Membership also lapses automatically on default of the minimum monthly contribution for two consecutive months. Membership is not transferable or saleable, except to a member’s estate on death (Article 18).
Risk statement — please read before applying
Your capital is at risk. Membership of this cooperative is an investment, not a savings account or a bank deposit. It is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and you may get back less than you contribute.
Returns depend on project delivery, on the Nigerian property market and on movements between sterling and the naira. We publish no projected or guaranteed return figures. Any figure quoted to you verbally that is not in the constitution or in a written business case should be treated with caution — and reported to us.
Read the constitution in full before applying, and take independent financial advice if you are at all unsure whether this is suitable for you.
Membership application
About five minutes. We never ask for bank, card or identity-document details through this form.
Before you apply
A cooperative is a commercial enterprise owned and run jointly by its members, who share in the profits or benefits. In the tradition of the cooperative movement, members hold to the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
UK ULDA is constituted around the Co-operative Principles defined by the International Co-operative Alliance: voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, education and training, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for the community. Those principles are written into Article 3 of our constitution, and that article is entrenched — changing it requires the approval of 100% of members.
Yes. ULDA & Partners Cooperative Ltd is registered at Companies House in England & Wales under company number 11728901, incorporated on 14 December 2018 as a private company limited by guarantee without share capital. You can read the public record on the Companies House register without taking our word for any of it.
Our board is named in full on the leadership page, and our complete constitution — all 118 articles — is published on this site.
They are two separate companies with two separate jobs.
UK ULDA — ULDA & Partners Cooperative Ltd — is the UK cooperative registered at Companies House. It raises and holds member capital, and approves the business case for each project in London.
ULDA — Universal Learn Direct Academia Ltd — is a separate company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria. It trains the construction workforce and executes the projects on the ground.
You become a member of the UK cooperative. It is the UK entity you have a relationship with.
Membership is open to any individual aged 16 or over, and to corporate bodies and the nominees of unincorporated bodies, firms and partnerships, who support the aims of the cooperative and agree to pay the monthly subscription. Every application is approved by the directors (Article 12).
A corporate body that joins appoints a representative by resolution of its governing body, and that representative exercises the member’s rights (Article 13).
The constitution sets no residency requirement — it requires that you are 16 or over, support the aims of the cooperative, and pay the subscription. In practice most members are UK-based, and the cooperative is governed by UK law with general meetings convened under the Companies Act 2006.
If you are applying from outside the UK, say so in your application and we will confirm what that means for you before your membership is approved.
Membership is a monthly subscription of a minimum of £100 and a maximum of £500 (Article 7). You choose your amount within that range when you apply.
Members who default on the minimum £100 monthly contribution for two consecutive months cease to be members under Article 17(a), so treat the commitment as an ongoing one rather than a one-off payment.