Who Owns Collaborative Housing? A Conceptual Typology of Property Regimes

Abstract

Tenure in collaborative housing remains under contextualized. Unpacking tenure contributes to internal differentiation of collaborative housing, its comparison to other modes of housing provision and the evaluation of potential benefits. This paper develops an ideal-typical typology of tenure through property regimes. These constitute social arrangements regarding the allocation of rights, rules and roles with respect to a resource. In terms of organizational characteristics, collaborative housing is based on limited common property, self-governance and sets of internal rules. While sharing these characteristics with other residential communities, collaborative housing can be differentiated by virtue of collectively held management and commissioning rights. Property regimes are a mediating variable for both positive and negative effects attributed to collaborative housing.