On October 18, we held an extraordinary assembly to strengthen the cooperative housing model of Sostre Cívic

The Walden XXI project takes a big step forward in securing the necessary funding to make the project a reality

Sostre Cívic held last Monday, October 18, an important Extraordinary General Assembly vital for the future of our organization and the model of cooperative housing in right of use in Catalonia. With the near unanimity of the members registered at the Assembly (96% of affirmative votes), Sostre Cívic approves to constitute a Cooperative Group integrated by the different entities and cooperatives that form part of it, but under the same direction and unified governance, guaranteeing at the same time the autonomy of the housing projects.

As provided for in the Cooperatives Law, a "cooperative group" is, in short, a second-degree cooperative made up of entities (cooperatives, associations, etc.) that integrate shared activity and share a single governance. Group agreements have priority and bind the member entities.

So far, as Sostre Cívic, we worked both as an Association to spread the model of cooperative housing in right of use and as a Cooperative to manage the different housing projects of our social base. The birth of the Cooperative Group of Sostre Cívic allows better integration of governance between these two entities, and add to it as well La Constructiva, the first not-for-profit service cooperative we launched in 2018 aimed at building cooperative housing in right of use. 

At Monday's Assembly, at the same time, the segregation of the Projects was approved Cirerers i Walden XXI en two cooperatives which will be integrated into the cooperative group. The creation of both unique cooperatives is the result of a requirement from both the financial institution and the administration linked to the projects. Therefore, it is an indispensable requirement to be able to continue with both projects.

So, so much Cirerers with Walden XXI progress towards the implementation of their projects and, being integrated into the cooperative Group, shared governance with all Sostre Cívic (the more than 1000 members and 17 projects currently). The works of Cirerers are progressing at a good pace and can be inaugurated during the first quarter of 2022. Walden XXI, on the other hand, is progressing towards achieving the financing of the rehabilitation project of an old hotel in Sant Feliu de Guíxols to transform it into the first cooperative senior housing in Catalonia.

Ultimately, Sostre Cívic will remain a project cooperative, and will promote this model as it has been doing until now. Housing projects (whether they take the form of a project within the general cooperative or a singular cooperative within the Cooperative Group) have management autonomy in what is circumscribed to their project. To the cooperative group of Sostre Cívic the decision-making relating to the cooperative housing model in right of use, asset management, dissemination, resource management, support for the promotion and coexistence of the group are transferred to him.

With this decision, we take a step forward in consolidating the model of housing cooperative (or projects) in right of use in Catalonia. A model, that of phases, which is relevant in countries such as Denmark, but which is incipient in Catalonia. Therefore, it is still necessary to regulate the legal framework to simplify its implementation. We are currently the only entity that includes it 17 housing projects in right of use in a single cooperative. This model allows us to guarantee the values ​​of cooperative housing by avoiding the sale of the heritage in the speculative market and the sustainability of the projects in the long term, while facilitating the creation of new projects and the strengthening of the support network mutual between them.