Why Housing Cooperatives are the future.

We are playing monopoly, only unlike the game, a select few have already been around the board and bought everything up, in many cities a small handful of investors control the entire market. As we continue to dutifully pay our rent, the landlords use the wealth they take from us to buy off politicians and expand their domination over the market. Should this game continue we will all be subject to the whims of a tiny fraction of the population who would bleed our pockets dry before giving a moment’s thought to the needs of our families. By unifying a community around their shared need for affordable housing, housing cooperatives bring a much-needed balance to counteract the monopolistic pursuits of landlords across the nation.

We are already seeing the terrible impact of uncontrolled real estate investors as over the last decade rents have nearly doubled, while wages remain flat. Should this pattern continue working people will be priced out of their homes, and rather than respond to market demands to lower prices, landlords will simply continue to lobby our representatives to give them even more tax loopholes and handouts. So long as housing cooperatives are not a viable option, landlords will continue to use desperation as more incentive to keep prices over-inflated.

What is a housing cooperative?

A housing cooperative is a community of people with the shared interest of keeping their rent affordable and their building in good condition. In short picture an apartment building where all of the tenants are equal owners of the building. Rather than a condo where wealthy individuals own their unit individually and hold a mortgage on their own while still paying maintenance fees, in a housing cooperative tenants collectively own the entire building, so that they can have the flexibility to move in and out as they see fit.

Our current system of housing leaves individuals to fend for themselves, where even just two bad months may leave someone homeless, no matter how understandable their conditions are. In a housing cooperative, people have a network of neighbors to reach out to for support, who can offer leniency in a way no landlord would, to ensure that none of their neighbors are left out on the streets.

How it would work.

A number of individuals would petition to form a housing cooperative, in this case, let’s say 20 are needed. Once 20 names are on the petition then the cooperative would be formed. Tenants would create a fund for the purchase of their building and either pool their money or obtain financing to purchase their building. Tenants would either purchase a property from an existing landlord, or they would have a new building constructed. Tenants would vote on and ratify a constitution outlining building governance, rules of filling vacancies, rules for evictions, as well as the election of representatives should they find that necessary. In many cases, one of the tenants would be paid to be the building manager, in other cases, the group may vote to contract with a building management company.

Key Benefits

Rents on average will be 30-50% less than landlord owned apartments as the landlord profits are completely removed from the equation.

Being a partial owner of the building means that all of the tenants will have a stake in the care of the building and will want to keep it in good condition.

Tenants will have a direct say in the amenities, improvements, and repairs on the building, meaning that a landlord will not be able to delay upgrades simply to make a few extra bucks while tenants suffer.

When someone in the community falls on hard times, they can reach out to their neighbors and ask for leniency as they search for a new job. In many cases, they could perform building repairs, maintenance, or grounds-keeping tasks in exchange for free or reduced rents during hard times.

Even just one or two housing cooperatives in a town or region will put market pressure on landlords to lower their rents and keep their rates competitive to avoid losing even more market share to housing cooperatives.



