another way to access a home – Athenaeum

Faced with the growing difficulties in accessing decent housing, the cooperative housing model in transfer of use is consolidating itself as a stable alternative, based on a key idea: housing is not a market good, but a right of use. The buildings are owned by a non-profit cooperative, made up of the same people who live there. This means that no one buys or sells flats, nor can they speculate on them.

How do you access it?

People who want to live in cooperative housing become members of the cooperative and make a returnable initial contribution, which serves to make the project possible. From here, they have the right to use a home indefinitely, as long as the link with the cooperative is maintained.

On the other hand, an affordable monthly fee is paid that does not depend on the real estate market and remains stable over time, intended to cover expenses: building maintenance, return of financing and collective funds.

Community life and collective management

One of the distinguishing elements of this model is the active participation of members, since important decisions are taken in assembly and co-responsibility is promoted in the management of spaces and coexistence.

Many projects incorporate common spaces, such as multipurpose rooms, shared laundries or community areas, which promote neighborly relations and mutual help.

A model with a vocation for the future

Co-operative housing in transfer of use makes it possible to guarantee long-term residential stability, avoid evictions for economic reasons and ensure that the homes are kept out of speculation on a permanent basis.

More and more initiatives and administrations see this model as a key tool to expand the affordable housing stock and promote more collective, sustainable ways of life rooted in the territory.

Gisela del Rey Laguía