What is a housing co-op, anyway?
A housing cooperative (co-op) is a body through which people can collectively own a house. A housing cooperative is formed when people join with each other on a democratic basis to own or control the housing or related community facilities where they reside. Usually (as in LCA’s case) they do this by forming a not-for-profit cooperative corporation. Each month we pay an amount that covers our share of the operating expenses of the co-operative as a whole. Personal income tax deductions, lower turnover rates, controlled maintenance costs, community empowerment and resident participation and control are some of the benefits of choosing cooperative homeownership. Since the nineteenth century the number of families and individuals living in housing co-ops of various types has grown to over 1.2 million. Democratic control by members is the key to housing co-ops. In the the LCA, we use a consensus-seeking decision-making process.
All of our members are co-owners of LCA. Beyond that, each LCA house runs differently, ranging from individual apartment-style living to more communal, collective living. This has always been the case; historically, some collective LCA houses even shared individuals’ incomes. Some LCA members still do share incomes, often because they are family units living within an LCA community.
A housing cooperative (co-op) is a body through which people can collectively own a house. A housing cooperative is formed when people join with each other on a democratic basis to own or control the housing or related community facilities where they reside. Usually (as in LCA’s case) they do this by forming a not-for-profit cooperative corporation. Each month we pay an amount that covers our share of the operating expenses of the co-operative as a whole. Personal income tax deductions, lower turnover rates, controlled maintenance costs, community empowerment and resident participation and control are some of the benefits of choosing cooperative homeownership. Since the nineteenth century the number of families and individuals living in housing co-ops of various types has grown to over 1.2 million. Democratic control by members is the key to housing co-ops. In the the LCA, we use a consensus-seeking decision-making process.
All of our members are co-owners of LCA. Beyond that, each LCA house runs differently, ranging from individual apartment-style living to more communal, collective living. This has always been the case; historically, some collective LCA houses even shared individuals’ incomes. Some LCA members still do share incomes, often because they are family units living within an LCA community.
