The emergence of housing cooperatives in Spain

Abstract

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.