Socially oriented cooperative housing as alternative to housing speculation. Public policies and societal dynamics in Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain

Abstract

National housing systems increasingly combine three main types of housing: the private property sector (home ownership and private rental), social and public rental (public and non-profit sectors) and cooperative (social or civil economy). The dominant private type has facilitated housing speculation, which in many countries has become a critical source of economic inequality and instability. The cooperative housing type can be a viable alternative with a socio-spatial cohesion effect. This article compares the phenomena of socially oriented cooperative housing in three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and Spain). The analytical focus is on the public policies and regulations, and the societal and collective action factors that foster the development of housing cooperatives. The three cases present different institutional settings and ways to develop a socially oriented cooperative housing sector. The research findings contribute to mutual learning processes in searching alternatives to the commercial and very expensive private urban housing provision.

KEYWORDS:

• Comparative housing systems
• cooperatives
• housing policies
• collective action
• regulations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

Notes

1 “The power of cooperation, Cooperatives in Europe, Key figures 2015” by Cooperatives Europe (https://coopseurope.coop/resources/projects/power-cooperation-cooperatives-europe-key-figures-2015https://coopseurope.coop/resources/projects/power-cooperation-cooperatives-europe-key-figures-2015).

2 The European Federation of Public, Cooperative & Social Housing represents 37,570 cooperative enterprises and 11,189,933 members.

3 Mainly official statistics (Danmarks Statistik), Erhverbestyrelse (2006) and Kristensen (2011).

4 https://www.abf-rep.dk/om-abf/formaal-og-vision/about-abf/

5 It compares price developments in the private and cooperative sectors: “Hvordan har priserne på andelslejligheder udviklet sig? (How have prices developed in the cooperative sector?)” January 2018, https://www.dst.dk/Site/Dst/Udgivelser/nyt/GetAnalyse.aspx?cid=29821

6 In the standard exchange rate in 2020 this is about 34,000 €.

7 See https://www.cooplink.nl/initiatieven for an overview of initiatives that have registered at the knowledge network housing cooperatives.

8 The case of Blackstone is relevant in Madrid and Barcelona.

9 http://movicoma.blogs.uoc.edu/

10 Servimayor in Cáceres (2010), Puerto de la Luz in Málaga (2011), Profuturo in Valladolid (2012), La Muralleta in Tarragona (2013) Trabensol in Madrid (2013), and Convivir, Cuenca and Sol Dorado in Málaga (2015).

11 https://cohousingspain.org/categoria-directorio/en-proceso/

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Manuel Ahedo

Manuel Ahedo is Part-Time Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). He has a PhD in Sociology (2002) from the University of the Basque Country (Spain), and he has published mainly in the fields of sociology of socioeconomic policies, comparative economic sociology, and comparative policy analysis.

Joris Hoekstra

Joris Hoekstra is Assistant Professor of Housing Studies at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands). He also holds a position as visiting professor at the University of Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Joris is specialized in comparative housing research, housing policy and social housing. He is particularly interested in the interactions between macro-level trends in the political economy and welfare state, and micro-level developments in the field of housing. Between 2010 and 2017, Joris served as managing Editor of Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.

Aitziber Etxezarreta

Aitziber Etxezarreta is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economy and Business at the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU (Spain), and member of the University Institute of Social Economy and Cooperative Law GEZKI (UPV/EHU). She has been codirector of the Revista Vasca de Economía Social (Basque Journal of Social Economy) since 2017. Her research interests are: housing policy, housing cooperatives, social innovation and social economy. She has published in national and international academic journals. This research study was undertaken in the framework of the research group ‘Social Economy and its Law’ (IT1327-19).