Nonprofit, communal and self-governing housing developments for enrollees at schools
A student housing cooperative, also known as co-operative housing, is a housing cooperative for student members. Members live in alternative cooperative housing that they personally own and maintain. These houses are designed to lower housing costs while providing an educational and community environment for students to live and grow in. They are, in general, nonprofit, communal, and self-governing,[1] with students pooling their monetary and personal resources to create a community style home. Many student housing cooperatives share operation and governing of the house. As with most cooperatives, student housing coops follow the Rochdale Principles and promote collaboration and community work done by the members for mutual benefit.
Others were formed to provide a more inclusive and supportive environment for students. Many student housing cooperatives are focused around socialist principles or political activism (Michigan Socialist House), veganism or vegetarianism, racial or ethnic identity (Biko), or environmental concerns.
Throughout the twentieth century, student housing cooperatives expanded, but some floundered. Many formed coalitions in the face of rising debt or bankruptcy.[5] The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) was formed in 1968 as a way to link existing cooperatives together while educating and improving cooperatives across North America.[6] Today, NASCO primarily serves as an association that promotes development and communication amongst coops and promotes communal living.
Management
There is not a standard way of running a housing cooperative. Most student housing cooperative members have full voting privileges on issues such as rent, future members, and community activity and then maintain an elected board of committee members who oversee the running of the cooperative.[7] Many student housing cooperatives require work shifts that help lower the overall cost of living. These may include chores or cooking. Some coops award points to the type of chore and members are required to complete a certain number of points a week.[8] All cooperatives expect members to contribute assistance throughout the year to keep the cooperative running smoothly and efficiently. It is up to the individual coops as to whether the members elect a board or committee to oversee the entire cooperative.
List
Australia
Two student housing co-operatives are presently operating in Australia:
Canberra Student Housing Co-op [10] in Canberra, founded in 2010
Canada
Student co-operatives are situated in close proximity to colleges and universities. The biggest student housing co-operative in the world is Waterloo Co‑operative Residence Inc. in Waterloo, Ontario with 1300 resident members.
In France L’Association de Coopération pour le Logement des Etudiant·es de France (L'ACLEF), founded in 2015, exists to take on the management of empty properties to rent to students. L'ACLEF operates CoopColoc, housing students in Paris and Bordeaux alongside Campus & Toits in Toulouse. [16]
Switzerland
There is one operational student housing co-operative in Switzerland:
SEASALT (South East Students Autonomously Living Together) in Brighton with 7 members, opened 2021 [18]
There are also initiatives at various stages of development to establish housing co-operatives in Glasgow,[19] Manchester[20] and Bristol.[21]
All operating coops and initiatives are members of Students for Cooperation, a UK wide federation of student co-operatives which includes a number of other groups across the UK working to establish student housing co-operatives.[22] Students for Cooperation commissioned a report on establishing a National Body of Student Housing Cooperatives (NBSHC) to help support and grow the UK student housing cooperative movement.[23][24] In 2018 this new body, Student Co-op Homes, was launched as a secondary co-operative for raising finances to buy property to lease to student housing co-operatives.[25][26] The organisation has similarities to North American Students of Cooperation.
An unsuccessful plan to launch a student housing co-operative took place in 2004, when MMUnion partnered with the National Union of Students and Confederation of Co-operative Housing[27] to offer cheaper cooperatively owned alternatives to city housing for Manchester Metropolitan University students. The NUS plan fell through as NUS management changed.[28]
United States
Artist, student and community co-operatives are common in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCO.
Currently, the second biggest student housing co-op in the world is Berkeley Student Cooperative, formerly known as the University Students Cooperative Association, in Berkeley, CA with 1250 students living in 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes. Other large-scale co-op systems include MSU Student Housing Cooperative of Michigan State University, the Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan, and UCLA University Cooperative Housing Association with 400+ students.
