- Title
- Articulating value in cooperative housing: international and methodological review
- Creator
- Crabtree, Louise; Grimstad, Sidsel; McNeill, Joanne; Perry, Neil; Power, Emma
- Relation
- Newcastle Business School Discussion Paper Series: Research on the Frontiers of Knowledge Number 2019-14
- Relation
- https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ics/publications/reports
- Resource Type
- working paper
- Description
- Housing cooperatives are a growing presence in Australia’s housing system, providing a diversity of housing forms to a variety of household types across the income spectrum, typically serving low- and moderate-income households. International evidence shows that housing cooperatives can provide a range of housing from very low price points through to market rate in both non-urban and urban contexts. Housing cooperatives are legally incorporated entities that provide housing for their members and are bound by relevant national or state legislation, such as Australia’s federal Co-operatives National Law, 2012. Many housing cooperatives hold title to housing that they make available to their members; in such instances, some cooperatives own the housing while others lease it from another entity, often the government. As members of the cooperative, residents do not own their homes but own a share in the cooperative and ownership of a share gives the member the right to live in one of the cooperative’s homes. Other housing cooperatives do not hold title but still undertake activities such as tenancy management and selection. This is part of what creates the diversity of cooperative housing. Shares can range from a minimal value through to market value. Where shares have a minimal value, cooperative housing functions more like renting as the resident pays a regular fee to the cooperative. That charge is often indexed to household income to keep it affordable. Where shares have a market value, cooperative housing functions more like ownership as shares will sell at whatever price the market will bear. In market cooperatives, shares act as a form of housing equity. There are also cooperatives that set their share value between these two ends of the price spectrum and so can act like affordable ownership models; these are often called limited-equity cooperatives. Regardless of the value of shares, all housing cooperatives agree to operate according to the international cooperative principles: 1. Voluntary and Open Membership; 2. Democratic Member Control; 3. Member Economic Participation; 4. Autonomy and Independence; 5. Education, Training and Information; 6. Cooperation among Co-operatives; 7. Concern for Community. The scale of international housing cooperative sectors varies greatly, with the United States of America (USA), Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK) characterised by very small sectors (typically less than one per cent of housing stock) and in contrast, some Scandinavian sectors comprise 30 per cent of stock. The research presented in this report reviewed a selection of international cooperative housing sectors in addition to the Australian context, with two aims: 1. Compile the current evidence for the social and financial benefits of housing cooperatives, to develop a framework to assess this in Australia; and, 2. Identify preliminary issues regarding the growth and diversification of housing cooperatives in Australia. Original Report: National Housing Co-Operative Network, January 2019.
- Subject
- housing cooperatives; housing equity; international cooperative principles; growth of housing cooperatives in Australia; Newcastle Business School Discussion Paper Series: Research on the Frontiers of Knowledge
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1399941
- Identifier
- uon:34708
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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