Building co-operatives

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of the series on
Cooperatives
Types of Co-operatives
Housing cooperative Building cooperative Retailers' cooperative Utility cooperative Worker cooperative Social cooperative Consumers' cooperative Agricultural cooperative Credit union Cooperative banking Cooperative federation Cooperative union Cooperative wholesale society Mutual insurance
The Rochdale Principles
Voluntary and open membership Democratic member control Member economic participation Autonomy and independence Education, training, and information Cooperation among cooperatives Concern for community
Political and Economic Theories
Anarchism Cooperative federalism Cooperative individualism Owenism Third way Socialism Socially responsible investing Social enterprise
Key Theorists
Robert Owen William King The Rochdale Pioneers G.D.H. Cole Charles Gide Beatrice Webb Friedrich Raiffeisen David Griffiths
Organizations
List of cooperatives List of cooperative federations International Co-operative Alliance Co-operative Party
·  v • d • e

Building co-operatives are co-operative housing corporations where individuals or families work together to directly construct their own homes on a co-op basis.

Members of this type of co-operative purchase building materials in bulk and co-operate with other members of the co-op during the construction phase of the co-operative. When the housing has been completed the members usually own their own homes directly. In some cases, roads, parkland and community facilities continue to be owned by the co-operative.

Building co-ops were extremely popular in many parts of Canada from the 1930s to the 1960s. Father James (Jimmy) Tompkins and Dr. Moses Coady were key organizers in Nova Scotia of the first building co-ops. Through active local study groups they began research on co-operatives and developed a concept of how a building co-op could work.

Father Tompkins helped the start-up in 1936 of the first self-help, building co-op in North America near Glace Bay (Reserve Mines), Nova Scotia, Canada. A group of coal miners formed the Housing cooperative with a housing loan of CAN $22,000. The housing loan was used to pay for building materials. Each miner's personal contribution was his labor - "sweat equity". They worked together to build eleven homes. The miners moved into the first houses in 1938. These homes continue to be occupied today at Tompkinsville.