Co-Op is a winner & the most affordable housing available. Co-Op & Non-Profit is where government should have 75% of their dollars for housing. If you want affordable you need to shut-out the private sector.
Housing | Energy | Policy | Environmental Generalist | Community Volunteer (posts/views/opinions are my own)
What does this picture look like to you? If you said an apartment building or a condo, you'd be correct. It totally looks like that, but there's a difference. The difference is who owns the building and how this ownership is structured. Specifically this building is a co-operative and it is owned by its members, who also happen to live in the building. The members own shares in the co-operative and have the exclusive right to inhabit their homes. Like a condominium, there's a board and there are rules, and there are monthly fees, which depend on the ammenities of the building, etc. Another key difference though is housing co-operatives are focused on providing housing, a place to live, not a place to park your money, not an investment opportunity. Typically you can't rent out a unit (short or long-term) and the co-op board needs to approve if you want to sell your shares. What this means in practice is that homes in co-operative buildings are priced lower than similar condominium homes on the market. Financing is also different, but some options are available for mortgages. So, while this is a lot for most people to wrap their heads around, co-operative housing may be worth considering if you're looking for more affordable housing with a built-in sense of community. #Coops #Cooperatives #Housing #HamOnt #Ontario #Canada #RandomMusings
'If you want affordable you need to shut-out the private sector'. Affordability means increase the supply and control the demand which our self proclaimed emperor has really screwed up. Build like they used to and home values will come down to affordable levels. Having said that, there is of course many who want the values of homes to stay, which then screws over a whole generation of people...but that's not sustainable, since people need to start families and require homes to do that. The way this is suppose to work, is once that nightmare in Ottawa is gone, the demand will be controlled much better and hopefully more shovels in the ground for new homes.