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.@en

Housing cooperatives imply that a group of people organize themselves in order to build and/or manage housing for the group as a whole. The chapter outlines the research methods and explains the emergence of housing co-operatives in Spain in general terms. It deals with the general institutional and historical background of the housing cooperatives in Spain. Cooperative housing models based on a distinction between ownership rights and usage rights appear in different forms and by various names depending on the country. The chapter explores the connections between these new initiatives and the existing institutions. An often-mentioned institutional problem concerns the inexperience of the financial sector with financing housing cooperatives. The chapter aims to examine the housing innovations in Spain in more detail and to learn about their organization and management. However, there has been an increase in small organizations and consultancies that assist these initiatives, usually on a commercial basis.@en