Advantages of a Housing Co-operative Society

Housing co-operative societies have brought the dream of a home of one's own within reach of countless ordinary families, especially in crowded towns and cities. Their chief advantages are:

• Affordable housing — By buying land in bulk and building many houses or flats together, the society brings down the cost per member far below what a private builder would charge, so that a person of small means can own a decent home.
• Freedom from private builders and landlords — Members are freed from the high prices, heavy profits and unfair dealings of private builders, and from the insecurity and rising rents of living as tenants under private landlords.
• Easy finance — The society arranges large, long-term loans from housing finance bodies, banks and government schemes and passes the benefit to members on easy instalments, which a single individual would find very hard to obtain alone.
• Security of ownership and tenure — A member gets a home of his own (or a secure, long-term right to occupy a flat), giving his family stability, dignity and freedom from the fear of eviction.
• Planned and healthy living — Land is developed in a planned way with roads, water, drainage and open spaces, and common services are maintained, so members enjoy a cleaner, healthier and better-organised living environment than in unplanned private colonies.
• Sense of community and mutual help — Living together as members of one society builds neighbourliness, co-operation and a spirit of shared responsibility for common property. …