The event looked at local housing policies to draw common lessons about the importance of a supportive regulatory framework, access to finance and cooperative autonomy.

Representatives of housing cooperatives from around the world met in Zurich, Switzerland on September 22nd to explore joint ways to promote affordable cooperative housing. The event held in a hybrid way, in person and online, was organized by WBG Zurich, the largest of the nine regional associations of Swiss housing cooperatives.

Our partner and member of the project Cirerers, Esther Alegre, mentioned the importance of the existence of Sostre Cívic as a driver of cooperative housing in Catalonia. "The cooperative provides the tools that groups can use to make decisions about their own projects", he said.

Ander Zabala, member of thetechnical team and administrative of Sostre Cívic, he also emphasized the importance of the existence in our country of ethical and cooperative banking to get the model installed. "The wide network of different solidarity economy initiatives makes it possible for these ethical banks to exist," he said. "The existence of an entire ecosystem is necessary to obtain broad supports. Traditional banks do not trust the cooperative model.” The support of the city of Barcelona and other local and national public bodies in Catalonia, through the transfer of land and other measures, has also been crucial for the success of the project, he added.

The cooperative housing movement in Switzerland has a long history and implementation: it started more than 100 years ago, in response to the severe housing shortage. There are 100 housing cooperatives in Zurich alone, with a market share of 23% of all apartments in the city. Nationally, there are 1.700 limited-profit housing organizations in Switzerland, including housing cooperatives. Together, these organizations represent 10% of the total housing population in Switzerland.

Karin Vasella-Kuhn, head of the Zurich city office in charge of non-profit housing, provided an overview of its policies to support cooperatives, from 1924 to the present day. Among the measures, he described the sale or long-term lease of land for non-profit housing development, the granting of loans and the purchase of participation certificates or shares. 

Among the support measures, it is important to highlight the Bond Issuing Cooperative for Limited Profit Housing (EGW/CCL), established in 1991 by the Swiss government and the country's cooperative housing movement. It is a cooperative that raises money directly from the capital market through long-term loans. It distributes the quota among the public utility contractors, who must be members of the EGW/CCL cooperative. The financier signs a bond covered by a guarantee from the Confederation. This limits the interest rate, which remains fixed for the duration of the loan.

A key ingredient in the longevity of the Swiss model is the autonomy enjoyed by cooperative umbrella organizations: they administer the process, with the government's role limited to loan guarantees and assistance in securing funding.  

Some Swiss cooperatives also provide international support to other cooperatives outside the country. Switzerland's largest housing cooperative, Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ), manages a solidarity fund that has supported 45 projects worldwide in the last three years.

Julie La Palme, general secretary of the Co-operative Housing International (CHI), emphasized that the Swiss model could be replicated. "We can see the success of cooperative housing in Switzerland, especially here in Zurich, with housing policy and funding mechanisms facilitated at regional and national levels, and this is a model worth emulating elsewhere. Of the world".

Sorcha Edwards, General Secretary of Housing Europe, warned that increasing supply alone will not solve the world's housing crisis. He referred to the reports on affordable housing that his organization produced in 2021, where experiences of land acquisition, financing and good governance are collected. 

"A cooperative approach to housing must be part of the solution to this massive global crisis," he said. “But, of course, you can't rely only on the power of the people; the right regulatory structures and funding must be available to enable these cooperatives to flourish.”

Legislation can also be a barrier. In Eastern Europe, the housing stock is mainly privately owned and there is a lack of adequate regulatory frameworks and institutions to promote affordable and cooperative housing. Recognizing that they faced common challenges, co-operatives from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia founded the Co-operative Housing Network Moba Housing SCE the 2017.

"Financial actors are not willing to take risks", said Zsuzsi Pósfai of Moba. “They are not willing to support pioneering and experimental initiatives, and since the sector does not yet exist, we only have pioneering and experimental initiatives.” Currently, Moba has already been able to create their own Housing Development Fund in 2021 founded with capital from Swiss housing cooperatives, and it looks like they will be able to add some additional funding soon, through public funds, that will allow them in the short term term to give loans to its members to be able to develop the first projects.

You can read more on the international page coop.news