A good cup of tea is essential for any good brainstorming session or contemplation of a business idea, which is just how the UK's first co-operative student housing company has been formed in Edinburgh. Mike Shaw, one of the student campaigners who helped start the co-operative took the idea from the US where small-scale co-ops are common and have existed for decades. Campaigners of the Edinburgh co-op have recently secured the 106-bed Wrights House unit, hoping to rent the rooms to students at just £260 per month.

For a co-operative to work, it has to be a solution to a social need, the scheme really gained traction after a referendum at the Edinburgh student's union EUSA where a yes vote was secured by a staggering 92%. The scheme has been setup so that the co-operative rents the property from the owners and allows the students to run and manage the student accommodation block. It's a great project and one that StuRents.com would like to wish the very best to the entrepreneurial and socially aware students!

Photo credit to Linus Bonham