Exploring the conditions for the emergence and sustainability of housing cooperatives in Latin America

Abstract

Housing cooperatives are being reconsidered in many countries worldwide as potentially relevant actors in the provision of affordable housing. This is also the case in Latin America, characterised by neo-liberal housing policies that have led to an increasing financialization of housing and marginalisation of the poor. Uruguay is an exception, with housing cooperatives playing a key role in the provision of affordable housing. For over two decades its Federation of Mutual Aid Housing Cooperatives (FUCVAM) has been advocating and actively supporting the establishment of cooperative housing in the region. In this paper, we examine the opportunities and challenges of housing cooperatives to penetrate in Colombia and El Salvador’s housing systems, two countries historically characterised by neo-liberal housing regimes. Based on empirical research in Uruguay, Colombia, and El Salvador, we will analyse the socioeconomic, political, and institutional factors that enable or constrain the emergence of housing cooperatives and their sustainability over time.