Why we exist
Nobody knows how to control what they're building.
The largest AI labs in the world are openly racing to build systems more capable than the people making them. None of them has a working method for keeping such a system under human control, and most of the people who work on that problem don't expect to have one in time.
If that's right, the intervention that reliably buys us time is not building it yet. A global moratorium on frontier AI development: an international agreement with teeth, of the sort humanity has managed before for technologies it decided were too dangerous to race on.
That's what the people here work towards, in whatever capacity they can manage. Moratorium House exists so they can do it without paying rent, without a job eating the hours, and without being the only person they know who takes it seriously.
You don't need to have made your mind up to come. Most people who arrive are still working out what they think. What we ask is that you take the question seriously and do something useful with the time.
What you get
Everything you need to stop thinking about money for a while.
A room of your own
Your own bedroom in a thirteen-bedroom Victorian townhouse. Four are en suite; the rest have sinks and share well-kept bathrooms on their floor. Most are move-in ready today.
Food, and a bit of money
A weekly grocery shop, paid for—eat as much as you like. Mostly vegan with some vegetarian items. On top of that, £50 a week for anyone without a full-time income.
No rent, no bills
No rent, no council tax, no letting agent, no notice period. Heating, electricity, wifi and laundry are all covered. The only money involved is a refundable deposit, capped at £600.
Stay as long as it's useful
Come for a fortnight to finish a piece of work, or settle in for the long haul. Both are normal here, and you're not signing a tenancy either way.
Space to actually work
Desks, monitors and a whiteboard in the lounge, a big table in the dining room, and your own room upstairs for when you need the door shut. Quiet hours 10pm to 8am.
People who get it
The point of a house rather than a grant is the other people in it. Meals together, arguments in the kitchen, and CEEALAR's residents next door to disagree with you productively.
The house
A Victorian seaside hotel that stopped being a hotel.
32 York Street is a three-storey townhouse in central Blackpool, built when the town was where the whole country came on holiday. It spent years as a hotel called Newton House, and the bones of that are still obvious: too many bedrooms, too many bathrooms, and a staircase built for people carrying luggage.
The ground floor is the communal one—lounge, dining room, kitchen, laundry and garage. The two floors above are bedrooms, six on the first and seven on the second, with shower rooms and toilets at the end of each hall.
It isn't a luxury building and we don't pretend otherwise. It's warm, clean, well stocked, and yours for as long as you're doing the work. If something in your room is broken or getting you down, say so and it gets sorted. That's the arrangement.
Who it's for
Whatever capacity you can manage.
Most people who come here weren't involved in any of this a few months earlier. That's deliberate. We would rather help someone start than compete for the small number of people who already have.
Applications are judged on what you'd do with the time, not on credentials, employment status, or whether anyone has heard of you.
- People who've only just found out—if you've recently worked out that this matters and want to do something about it, apply. Not knowing where to begin isn't a disqualification, it's the normal starting point. And if you arrive without a project, we'll give you one worth doing.
- Students and postgrads—Preston is twenty-three minutes away by train. You can live here for nothing and still get to your department, your supervisor and your seminars.
- Writers and communicators—journalism, essays, video, translation, getting the argument in front of people who haven't met it.
- Campaigners and organisers—protest, lobbying, letter-writing, local groups, anything that moves policy or public opinion.
- Policy and legal people—treaty design, compute governance, the unglamorous drafting a moratorium would actually require.
- Researchers—anyone working on the case for a moratorium, on timelines, or on why the current trajectory doesn't end well.
- Builders—developers, designers and operations people who want to make all of the above more effective.
Partners, children and other dependants are welcome. If they need a room of their own it's £600 a month; if they're sharing yours, £200.
The town
Yes, Blackpool.
It's a fair question, so here's the honest answer: Blackpool is cheap. That's most of it. A house this size anywhere people usually want to live would cost several times what this one does, which would mean several times fewer people housed for the same money.
What you get in exchange is better connected than the reputation suggests. Preston is twenty-three minutes away by train, with trains most of the day. Lancaster is about forty minutes by car and Manchester a little over an hour, so all three are realistic if you don't need to be on campus every day of the week. There's on-street parking if you drive.
The sea is a five-minute walk and the promenade is genuinely lovely at seven in the morning when nobody's about. What you don't get is a city. Blackpool is a seaside town with the problems seaside towns have, and it isn't the place to come if you need a lot going on around you. Most people find that helps them work. Some don't, and leave, and that's fine—nobody's tied in.
Living here
What's actually expected of you.
Be a decent housemate: clean up after yourself, keep the noise down, lock the doors, take your washing out of the machine. Communal areas are for everyone and nobody should be picking up after you. There are house rules and you'll get the full set when you arrive, written considerably less formally than this page.
The work commitment is a minimum of about five hours a week. That's one focused day, or a little most days. Plenty of people do far more, but five is the floor and we're happy with it.
We'll check in with you regularly to see what you've been up to. It isn't surveillance and nobody's counting hours, but we do want to know the time is being used. And if you don't know what to do with those hours, that isn't a problem—say so and we'll give you something worth doing.
I want this to be comfortable for your stay—a home, not something you're merely enduring. If it starts to feel that way, tell me and we'll fix it.
Axiom, House Manager
Applying
Where are you with all this?
Just starting out? Deep in it already? Only found out last week that it was a problem at all? All of those are fine. We ask because it tells us what to expect and how to be useful when you arrive, not because there's a right answer.
The form takes about ten minutes.
(instructions are in the HTML comment directly above).
Got a question first?
If you'd rather ask something before applying, or come and see the place, send us a message. We reply to everyone.
Questions
Frequently asked.
Is it really free?
Yes. No rent, no council tax, no bills, no tenancy. Food is bought for the house roughly once a week and you eat as much of it as you want, and there's £50 a week on top for anyone without a full-time income.
The one thing you pay is a refundable deposit: £20 for each day of your intended stay, up to a maximum of £600. It's paid before you arrive and returned when you leave, on the usual terms for a rental deposit. If the deposit is the only thing stopping you, get in touch.
If you bring a partner or dependants, they pay £600 a month if they need a room of their own, or £200 a month if they're sharing yours.
How long can I stay?
As long as it's useful. People come for a couple of weeks to finish something and people settle in for the long haul; both are normal. You're not signing a tenancy and you can leave whenever you like.
Do I need to be working on this already?
No, and most people aren't. Plenty of residents had given AI risk very little thought until shortly before they applied. What matters is that you take the problem seriously and are willing to put the hours in once you're here. If you've only recently concluded this matters, say so in your application—it's a perfectly good answer.
What if I don't know what to work on?
Then we'll give you something. That's not a consolation prize—it's how most people start. There's more useful work than there are people to do it, and a good deal of it needs no prior experience: writing, outreach, organising, research assistance, running events, making things. Tell us what you're good at and what you'd enjoy, and we'll find the overlap.
What if I think alignment might be solvable?
That's fine, and it's a perfectly reasonable thing to think. Nobody here is going to demand you hold a particular view before you arrive, and most people are still working out what they believe. The house exists because its residents don't expect the problem to be solved in time, so you'd want to be comfortable living among people who think that—but disagreeing with them is not a problem. If you've thought it through carefully and concluded that solving alignment is the better bet, CEEALAR next door is built for exactly that, and it's a good place.
Can I keep my job or my course while I'm here?
Yes to both. Preston is twenty-three minutes by train, so a course there is entirely compatible with living here; Lancaster and Manchester work if you don't need to be on campus daily. Remote work is fine too, and plenty of people need some income. What matters is that the five hours a week actually happen.
What's the food situation exactly?
A grocery order goes in about once a week and everything in the communal cupboards and fridges is for everyone. It's mostly vegan with a few vegetarian items. Anything you want added goes on the kitchen whiteboard and gets ordered. You also get your own space in the kitchen for things you buy yourself—plenty of people buy their own non-vegan food.
Are the rooms actually nice?
They're comfortable, clean and warm, in an old building that used to be a hotel—see the photos above, which are recent and unstaged. Four rooms have en suites and the rest have sinks. Nobody's going to call it a boutique stay, but it's a home rather than a hostel, and if something in your room isn't right it gets fixed.
Can I visit before applying?
Yes, and it's often the sensible thing to do. Use the message form above and we'll arrange a visit or a call so you can see the place and ask the things you'd rather not put in a form.
Who runs the house day to day?
There's a House Manager living on site who does the weekly shop, sorts out anything that breaks, and makes sure new arrivals are settled in. If you need something while you're here, that's who to ask.