The Consortium, including University of Technology Sydney, Marrickville Council, Parramatta City Council, Association to Resource Co-operative Housing, The Mercury Centre, Co-operative Federation of NSW and CCC eNews held “Living Co-operatively: Affordable housing, Sustainable communities” , a   2-day Symposium that examined the connection between co-operatives and strong sustainable communities on 13-14 February at Petersham Town Hall in Sydney.  

“ Australia is in the grip of a housing crisis and we desperately need innovative solutions. Co-operatives offer an alternative to the strictly private or public-welfare routes to providing more homes,” said Suzanne Henderson, co-convenor of the Symposium and editor of CCCeNews. More than 1 million low- to middle-income earners now spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. The Real Estate Institute of Australia has released findings for the December quarter, showing a further slide in housing affordability. It says that across Australia the proportion of family income required to meet average home loan repayments rose to 37.4 per cent. The figure is the highest in the 22-year history of the Institute survey.

The Keynote speaker at the Symposium was International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) board member and global co-operative housing expert, Gun-Britt Mårtensson who told an audience of almost 200 that housing co-operatives are a viable and widespread means of providing more affordable and integrated housing around the world. In Sweden alone, 10% of the population live in housing co-ops. Mårtensson is the former chair and president of HSB, Sweden's largest co-operative housing organisation. “Housing co-operatives are the only form of housing where social capital and financial capital are treated equally and both help the members grow, “ she said.

Gun-Britt explained how the benefits of co-operative living extend beyond the shared-equity in the property: “Housing co-operatives build community and allow residents to address other critical needs such as child care, care of the aged, sustainable living and social isolation,” she said.

As a result of her visit, a local authority has agreed to look into a pilot shared-equity housing co-op. “We are immensely grateful that Gun-Britt was able to bring her wealth of knowledge and experience in co-operative housing to deliver these real outcomes,” said Professor Jenny Onyx, director of the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre, University of Technology Sydney.   More than 25 speakers explored models and options for local government provision of affordable housing, and alternative financing arrangements for co-operative living in Australia. An opportunity to help set the agenda in housing policy in the new political environment was provided by a break out think-tank on day two of the Symposium.

Papers and conference program at: www.mercury.org.au/lc

The co-operative solution to reviving the Australian Dream UTS press release