[2] Sanford Co-op consists of a street with 14 shared houses occupied by 8 members in average and 6 studio flats with single occupancy.

[2] The original idea was outlined in a paper[9] by the President of the University of London Union John Hands published in March 1967, proposing self-governing co-operative communities as a solution to the housing crisis affecting students and others.

Despite lengthy administrative difficulties, planning consent was finally granted by the Department of the Environment in January 1973 along with an option mortgage subsidy to bring the current variable interest rate of 11% down to 7.4% for the lease purchase and developments.

With half the cost borrowed from an insurance company it is the first voluntary housing scheme to attract capital from other than public funds or building societies.

In parallel, an intense lobbying campaign was carried out by SCD, including publications of pamphlets, manifestos, reports, fund-raising events, tabled amendements to the Housing Bill 1969, and parliamentary discussions.

[2] Support for the scheme was expressed twice by Prince Philip who spoke at a fundraising event for SCD in 1969 and chaired a teach-in on housing co-operatives on 21 November 1974.

[12] From its inception in 2005 to its completion in 2009, the co-op undertook a major development project to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, called Carbon 60.

[18] The place, its organisation and community have been studied throughout the years, with various reported succcesses often attributed to its underlying alternative housing scheme.

Foreseeing that the mural may outlive its portrayed politicians (Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Michael Heseltine and Yuri Andropov), residents namely suggested skeletons on the trailing missiles instead.