Collaborative Housing Guide: building a great life together

Posted on 22 Jan 2021
Updated on 22 Jan 2021
2-minute read

ISF produced a free online resource for members of the public, policy-makers, and industry professionals interested in trying out the European housing model.

Modern residential buildings, new apartment houses with green outdoor facilities in the city

‘Collaborative housing’ describes a group of innovative multi-unit housing models focused on affordability and community-building. They involve significant resident participation in the process of developing and/or managing the housing. These models have their origins overseas and are relatively new to Australia. The ‘building groups’ model offers an alternative to the conventional speculative model of housing delivery that has resulted in savings of 20-30 per cent overseas.

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Following on from a previous ISF project that explored the potential for collaborative housing to benefit Australians, this project focused on identifying and resolving the key barriers to making collaborative housing more available in Australia. In particular, we reviewed the financial and legal structures that make this possible in Europe and engaged with local stakeholders (banks, development financiers, impact investors and the proponents of some local housing projects) to explore current financial and legal barriers and the opportunities for overcoming them. Our findings were translated into information for members of the public interested in setting up collaborative housing projects and can be found at: https://www.collaborativehousing.org.au

Collaborative Housing Guide (Website)