Membership of a housing co-operative is voluntary and open to all persons who are genuinely in need of housing, or re-housing, and can benefit from the accommodation available; without discrimination as regards race, religion, political viewpoint or gender, provided they are willing and able to accept the responsibilities of membership and to fulfil any contractual conditions involved.
Recruitment of Members
Recruitment of co-operative members is mainly related to the availability of co-operative dwellings in new developments, e.g.,
- co-operative rental housing for eligible social housing waiting list applicants interested in co-operative membership as a means to solving their housing needs,
- the formation of a new local home-ownership building co-operative for members with the financial capacity to engage in house purchase transactions, based on the availability of suitable building sites and adequate funding from members’ mortgage loans and personal savings to meet the overall housing construction and related costs.
Member/Tenants for Co-operative Social Rented Housing
As the provision of co-operative social rented housing is financed from State subsidised loans for approved not-for-profit housing bodies, arrangements are made with the relevant local authority for the nomination of eligible applicants, interested in co-operative rental housing as a solution to their accommodation needs, from the social housing waiting list operated by the city, town or county council.
The applicants for co-operative social rented housing are drawn from the local authorities’ social housing waiting lists according to their relative priority for housing/re-housing and the suitability of the dwellings available to meet their household needs in terms of type, size and location.
Arrangements are usually made for the recruitment of members for co-operative rental housing at the appropriate advanced construction stage of new developments.
The filling of vacancies in the existing co-operative rental housing stock follows the nomination of interested local authority social housing waiting list applicant/s for whom the vacated dwelling/s may provide suitable accommodation. They must be willing to accept the responsibilities of co-operative membership and the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement. The number of vacancies occurring in existing co-operative rental housing units each year is quite small.
Information for New Members
Information and familiarisation programmes about the organisation and management of co-operatives are conducted to enable applicants to obtain advance knowledge of the responsibilities of membership, including the financial commitments and contractual requirements.
Advance information about co-operative rental housing allocations will include details of the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement, rent payments and estate management arrangements.
If a housing co-operative has been organised to build home-ownership dwellings, information about the anticipated costs has to be prepared in advance of the financial commitments required from members so that they can be advised accordingly. Participating members will be required to show that they have the financial capability to complete a house purchase transaction at the appropriate stage in the preparation, planning and costing of a home-ownership building project.
The information and familiarisation programmes are organised by the co-operative housing societies recruiting new members and may include a number of group sessions/meetings, particularly when related to a new co-operative housing development. The National Association of Building Co-operatives assists affiliated housing co-operatives with the delivery of information programmes.
Member / Shareholders
Applicants for membership of a co-operative housing society are required to subscribe for €1 shares in the society. This is the means by which a person becomes a voting member and joint-owner, along with the other shareholding members, of the co-operative housing society.
Each member has one vote irrespective of the size of his/her shareholding in the society.
As the capital finance required to provide houses or apartments is raised mainly from long term mortgage loans, the co-operative share capital subscribed by members may contribute only a limited, or a nominal part, of the overall financing required.
The benefit to members and their communities derived from participation in a co-operative housing society is the relief of housing needs at an affordable cost. Therefore, interest or dividends may not be paid in respect of shareholdings. Shares are transferable and refundable in accordance with the Rules of the co-operative housing society.
Any annual financial surplus in a co-operative housing society is applied towards ensuring the society’s future financial stability and the furtherance of its aims for community benefit. Co-operative housing societies are not-for-profit business organisations but do need to ensure that they have enough funds to meet future ongoing costs.
Members’ share capital and co-operative financing arrangements may vary according to the housing tenures and funding schemes used, but member/user representation and involvement in the management of their co-operatives, with equality of voting rights, are the common key features of co-operative housing societies.
Once the responsibilities and benefits of membership have been explained, a co-operative housing society expects fair dealing, solidarity and support from all its members.