New developments in the campaign 'We make cooperative housing affordable' with the HabitatCoop aid line of the Generalitat and with the publication of the study "Economic affordability of cooperative housing in right of use: diagnosis, challenges and proposals "

Guaranteeing the affordability of cooperative housing in right of use for large sections of the population is currently one of our main objectives within the work lines of political advocacy and strengthening the sector. Since the beginning of 2021 we have created a workspace to start talking about it with La Dinamo Fundació, Fundació Coop 57, Goteo, Holon and COOPDEVS, with the support of Coòpolis, the Cooperative University of the city of Barcelona, ​​and the Sectorial d'Habitatge Cooperative in cession of use from the XES. 

Also from the XES and with the Federation of Housing Cooperatives of Catalonia we promoted the campaign 'We make cooperative housing affordable!', who held a round of meetings with the political groups of the Parliament of Catalonia and the housing and social economy departments. The campaign reached its peak with the sector's first major protest mobilization, which last May 15, it gathered nearly 400 people in Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona. 

HabitatCoop: a new line of aid to cooperative housing

We are fully aware that the mechanisms to be implemented to guarantee the affordability of the cooperative housing model in right of use will necessarily have the support of public administrations, especially if we want to achieve a wide and generalized impact. 

In this sense, all the work and mobilization done has begun to bear fruit. From the negotiation between the cooperative housing sector in right of use and the public administration, we have managed to get the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia to convene the first line of aid for the promotion of housing cooperatives in right of use, for the year 2021. The Department of Business and Labor allocates 1,3 million euros to these subsidies, which it has called "Habitatcoop", distributed between 2021 and 2022. The main objective of the grants is to contribute to the reduction of the initial contributions of the projects, with around 5.000 euros per user partner or coexistence unit, with a limit of 125.000 euros per cooperative. 

Although the regulatory bases of the grant have been published hastily and understanding that there is still a long way to go to improve it and guarantee the full effectiveness of this new line of aid, we must congratulate ourselves as a sector for this main milestone which is the result of the work of inter-cooperation and mobilization of the different groups and projects. Together, we are consolidating cooperative housing in right of use as an effective public policy to guarantee the right to housing.

First report on the economic affordability of cooperative housing

That capital contributions are currently the main barrier to access to cooperative housing in right of use is not something we assume. This is precisely the main conclusion of the first report "Economic affordability of cooperative housing in right of use: diagnosis, challenges and proposals", written and published by the organizations leading the campaign for the affordability of the model.

This study performs a diagnosis on the affordability of cooperative housing projects in the promotion phase and in the coexistence phase in Catalonia and also collects and shares collective resolution mechanisms and proposals that are being carried out by the projects. The conclusions show that, although in the last decade the cooperative housing model in right of use has grown in a sustained manner, capital contributions become a strong barrier to universal access to the model.

Currently, people who do not have the capacity to save or people who are in a situation of greater vulnerability are excluded from the model. For this reason, achieving maximum affordability and inclusiveness in access to cooperative housing is the main objective of the sector. Although we are aware that we still need to go deeper into the reflections and proposals, this report is a first step in the strategy of strengthening the sector, which should allow progress in a joint vision that enhances the development of tools and mechanisms collectives. From this perspective, the present study wants to be the previous step to the creation of sectoral tools to support the model (resistance boxes, sectoral funds) that facilitate access to cooperative housing projects in right of use. 

• See the report "Economic affordability of cooperative housing in right of use: diagnosis, challenges and proposals"

To know more:

• "Non-speculative and affordable housing for the popular classes", by Homera Rosetti a Sostre Crític
• Opinion: "We make cooperative housing affordable”, by Lorenzo Vidal in La Directa.
• "The cooperative housing movement calls for measures to make it affordable", in Betevé on 15/5/2021