Finance difficulties for co-op. housing

Press, 16 July 1983, Page 14

Finance difficulties for co-op. housing

PA Wellington Lack of an established source of finance has been described yesterday as a main factor inhibiting development of housing cooperatives. - In a long report for the National Housing Commission by researchers, Alison Gray and Judith Davey, financial institutions were said to be wary of unusual forms of tenure. Planning procedures were described as more often an obstacle than an encouragement to co-operative housing endeavours. The report said there was little evidence of a strong demand for co-operative housing at present, but that its potential should not be

ignored. “Not only does it provide an alternative tenure to owning or renting, it adds variety to the housing stock and can offer economies of scale as well as the possibility of social support for residents,” the report said. In times of economic stringency, rising transport costs and an awareness of the need to conserve scarce resources, co-operative housing offered several models worth fostering, it said.

Overseas experience showed that co-operative housing could not be forced on people. It would only be successful if people were well educated about its advantages and disadvantages.

“Given the present state of knowledge and the lack of examples in New Zealand, this will take a long time,” it said. The ' report said that though most institutions were prepared to lend to cooperative groups, each case must be argued on its merits in competition with more orthodox applications. “There are no clear guidelines which let prospective groups know where they stand, and the present low level of demand is unlikely to be sufficient in itself to promote such policies,” the report said. Public education was important for a wider acceptance of co-operative housing.