Collaborative housing could help address the social deficit of housing and strengthen social networks. That is what doctoral researcher Valentina Cortés Urra concludes based on research in Chile. Through cooperation, residents could not only get access to housing, they could also improve their social life. “Those social aspects are some of the potential benefits that collaborative housing could offer,” Cortés notes in her research.

In the South American country, collaborative housing constitutes a modest percentage of the total housing stock, but interest from both government and some citizens is growing. This is because currently, like in many parts of the world, there is housing shortage. Citizens are therefore picking up the challenge themselves. “There are subsidies in Chile, but there is not enough housing to use these subsidies,” Cortés says. “That’s one of the reasons collaborative housing could be an attractive alternative for some self-organized groups.” 

Informal forms of self-organized housing

Self-organized housing has been around much longer in Chile, even as far back as 100 years ago, but at the time it was born out of necessity. Examples of models that fall under collaborative housing umbrella term in Chile are housing cooperatives, small condominiums, and resident-led collective housing. One of these models, the “Pequeños Condominios” (small condominiums) are owner-occupied apartments for 2 to 12 households. Most of them are a remnant of the so-called “Operación Sitio o Tiza” (Operation Site or Chalk) of the 1960s. During this time of great urbanization, chalk on the floor often indicated the living space to which newcomers in Santiago de Chile in particular were entitled. In most cases, residents built their homes themselves, with or without government assistance. These were informal forms of self-organized housing, often later expanded to include living space for family members.

Since the dictatorship in the 1970s, the government has been trying to formalize or replace informal housing. For residents, this often means relocation outside the city center. Modern forms of self-organization are, in many cases, a reaction to this. Residents do not want to lose their community, where they have sometimes lived for generations, and therefore organize themselves. Nowadays, self-organized groups have re-emerged through social movements, housing committees and cooperatives or collective housing. 
A common feature in these models is that residents live close to each other, design the building together and have common meeting spaces. These can range from a dining or meeting room to a vegetable garden. Joint activities that residents set up can go a long way. For example, residents sometimes also arrange care for the elderly or children in the building together.

Success rate

For now, in Chile there is one resident-led collective housing project, 36 small condominiums projects and seven cooperative housing projects under development in Santiago. These are co-financed by the state. Some collectives scrape together the remaining money to complete the required savings from the housing programs, for example by trading products such as, tea or empanadas, Cortés discovered during her interviews with residents. Others cut construction costs by preparing the land for the construction stage themselves. “This kind of collaboration and activity creates mutual trust, because people get to know each other. They also feel empowered and that they belong to the projects,” Cortés says. “That makes the projects less likely to deteriorate socially or materially over time.”

Large-scale resident-led collective project Maestranza

It's not just small projects like the “Pequeños Condominios”. Cortés also examined the large-scale resident-led collective project Maestranza, with 424 apartments. Residents here chose and found the land and an architect’s firm to put a building on it. They co-designed the project entirely according to their own views and spatial requirements. Even in a project of this size, the sense of belonging appears to be great. “Most interviewees believe they will get their wallet back if they lose it here. If that happens on the street or close to their previous homes, it is definitely lost. Also, they feel less lonely.” 
Those social aspects are some of the potential benefits that collaborative housing could offer, she notes in her research. The sense of mutual trust and belonging, and a high level of social interactions contribute to a social quality that conventional housing does not necessarily offer.
Does that make collaborative housing a serious tool for solving the great shortage of affordable, high-quality housing? Not for now, as currently the model is a marginal part of housing provision. “For certain groups who like to live close together, it's an attractive option, but it’s not the only option to solve the major housing shortage,” Cortés says. “Collaborative housing is a potential solution to a social deficit in housing.” 
All the more reason for the government to come up with housing programs, new subsidy schemes and regulations for this housing model and promote it, she concludes.  

Published: April 2024

More information

Valentina Cortes Urra is doing a PhD research on the topic of ‘Collaborative Housing in Chile: An Exploration of Opportunities, Barriers, and Long-term Implementation Strategies’ at the department MBE of the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.