Co-operative housing is rental housing for people on low to moderate incomes. Members of cooperative housing select the tenants, manage and maintain the housing.

The benefits to cooperative housing are that it is long term, secure and affordable. Each co-op is designed to meet the specific needs of a community and they help improve quality of life for tenants. The government provides funds to build or buy dwellings and the co-op self-manages. The rent charged is used to cover operational costs, renovations, administration and training.

Cooperative housing caters to low to moderate income people including families, singles, young adults, elderly, people with special needs and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.

Cooperative housing tenants can expect to pay an average of 25% of their gross household income in rent. Of course, cooperative housing differs with each community. If you think this is an option for you, you might research local cooperative housing units available in your area, either online, in the yellow pages or by contacting co-op housing resources such as the National Association of Housing Cooperatives (NAHC), the non profit national federation of housing cooperatives.

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