| Brenda Tewiel pays $772 a month for a three-bedroom townhouse in Midnapore, which she agrees is a steal in Calgary’s current housing market. Not only is her accommodation cheap but Tewiel doesn’t have to worry about her rent suddenly being jacked up by 50 or 100 per cent as is the case for many renters. She also doesn’t have to worry that her landlord will redevelop the lot her townhouse is on and kick her out. That’s because Tewiel is a member of Alberta ’75, a housing co-operative.
Tewiel, who is the executive director of the Southern Alberta Co-operative Housing Association (SASHA), says co-ops provide a viable way to increase affordable housing in the city. Tewiel gave a presentation in front of the provincial-government-appointed affordable-housing task force on February 26. She’s urging the three levels of government to support more co-op housing in the city. Tewiel says the benefits of co-operative housing are obvious in the city’s current housing market where the vacancy rate for apartments is 0.5 per cent.
"You’re not at the mercy of the market. You’re not going to get thrown out because a developer is coming in. Just having that in itself is crucial to sustainability and effective living," she says.
"The way that it is right now, it’s not like everybody in Calgary can go out and buy a house, so we need an alternative. Right now, it’s like a two-tier system – the homeowners and the people who are struggling. Let’s even up the playing field and make a difference."
Tewiel says there is a variety of housing co-operative models. In some cases, co-op members can own their own homes. In the case of SASHA’s membership, which has 13 housing co-ops in Calgary, members invest in housing co-op shares and then pay a monthly housing fee. This pays down the mortgage of the co-op and also funds maintenance and property taxes. Calgary’s co-op options include apartments, condos, townhouses and duplexes. Unlike renters, co-op members have much more freedom, says Tewiel. Members can have pets and they can renovate and redecorate their units. Co-ops also aim to have a diverse socio-economic mix of people, she explains. Her co-op includes single people, dual-income families and single parents of different income levels. Members all get to vote on how much their housing payments will increase every year. Since there’s no profit motive, rents only need to increase to reflect the increased cost of property taxes and maintenance costs.
However, says Tewiel, in the current housing climate co-ops face a couple of major hurdles. For new co-ops wanting to get off the ground, the cost of land and buildings is prohibitively expensive. Increased property taxes are also causing financial challenges for co-operatives.
"Right now what we’re trying to do is have some laws changed around the taxes on co-operative housing because it’s affordable housing," says Tewiel. She also says there’s been "huge increases" in property taxes on some co-ops, which is "certainly a barrier to running an effective co-op."
David Wilson, a member of the Calgary Housing Action Initiative (CHAIN), a grassroots organization that’s lobbying to increase affordable housing in the city, says CHAIN would like to see more co-ops in the city. He agrees, however, that the cost of land, as well as that of existing buildings, makes creating new co-ops a major challenge.
"The difficulty I’m finding, especially without any government funding, is how do you start one when land here is ridiculously expensive?" asks Wilson.
Wilson says CHAIN has looked into pooling member resources and buying an apartment building that could be turned into a housing co-op. He says the one building they looked at buying cost $1 million. Wilson says they realized they’d have to charge almost $2000 a month to each co-op member to "break even" on the mortgage.
CHAIN wants all three levels of government to commit to spending one per cent of their budget each year on various affordable housing options, including supporting co-operative housing and land trusts. CHAIN would also like to see the city require developers to create 20 per cent affordable housing units in all new housing projects.
Tewiel says all Calgary co-ops are currently full and have waiting lists.
"There’s a need, and people are eager. It would be very nice for us to rise above this current situation and get more co-ops going so we can keep people housed," she says. "The exciting part is right now (co-op housing) is gaining momentum because we’re having a problem with affordable housing."
Tewiel says unlike some low-income housing initiatives there is no societal stigma against co-op housing. She says communities welcome co-ops into their neighbourhoods because they are well maintained and members have a strong sense of community pride. |
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