Functions of a Housing Co-operative Society

A housing co-operative society performs a set of interrelated functions, all built around the single object of providing and maintaining homes for its members. Its functions may be grouped as follows.

• Acquiring land — It obtains a suitable piece of land by purchase or on long lease, and gets it developed with basic facilities such as roads, water supply, drainage and electricity, so that houses or flats can be built on it.
• Constructing houses or flats — For house-building and tenant-co-partnership societies, it prepares building plans, gets them approved by the local authority, arranges materials and labour, and constructs the houses or flats for members.
• Allotting houses or plots to members — It fairly distributes the plots, houses or flats among its members according to its bye-laws, so that every member is provided for without favouritism.
• Arranging finance — Because housing is costly, it raises the large sums needed by taking long-term loans from co-operative housing finance bodies, banks and government schemes, and passes on this finance to its members on easy terms; a house-mortgage society's whole function is to lend money against mortgage.
• Maintaining common property and services — After the buildings are ready, it looks after the upkeep of the common parts — the structure, staircases, lifts, water tanks, gardens, roads and security — and provides common services such as water, lighting of common areas and cleanliness, meeting the cost from members' monthly contributions.
• Collecting contributions and maintaining accounts — It collects members' share money, instalments and monthly maintenance charges, keeps proper accounts, and manages the society's funds and reserves honestly. …