Collective Housing Property

Collective property is a type of property owned by a group of people. Collective forms of property are prolific across the globe. Collective property regimes exist in countries in the Global North and Global South, in rural and urban settings, and under a wide variety of political structures. This form of property has existed for hundreds of years and remains common today for many cultures, across social democracies and indigenous communities.

Property collectively owned is not an alternative to the norm: it has existed far longer than private property systems. Collective property is widely supported by governments and organizations across the world, such as in Sweden, Uruguay, Canada, India, and the United States. União Nacional por Moradia Popular (UNMP) is working to normalize and scale up the choice of collective property in Brazil through its Legal Framework for Self-Management Law.

In Brazil, the laws for tenure regularization in informal settlements already foresee the option of collective usufruct rights and collective adverse possession titles.

Collective property has the potential to provide high-quality, permanently affordable housing for those who need it most. It acts as a gateway to more opportunities, higher quality of life, and better neighborhoods. ¹ 

Collective ownership of property removes property from the speculative housing market, enabling permanent affordability and lowering the cost of investing assets in housing.

Since low-income housing developments receive government subsidies, it is fair with the taxpayer that the property will remain permanently affordable, protected from future commodification under the regime of collective ownership.

For housing that is built via self-management and mutual aid, collective ownership is the most suitable property regime because the common effort of sweat equity is shared by everyone. ²

It can also act as a low-risk means to build wealth for the pursuit of other educational or entrepreneurial opportunities.

All residents have a stake in the property , and all residents benefit equally from the property. Because liability of the property is shared, households have more security in maintaining the property.

Many residents use income freed up by affordable housing provided through collective property structures to attend college and eventually achieve higher-paying jobs. Collective property represents an opportunity for social mobility that would not be possible in the private housing market.

Residents frequently cite how collective forms of ownership make physical improvements in neighborhoods and contribute to a sense of security, neighborliness, and neighborhood pride. ³

Collective property can take several different forms: