Retirement living in Coops

Retirement living arrangements may have to be flexible and many will break the traditional mould. Some people have embraced co-housing, where people band together to buy land, build a cluster of homes and share some responsibilities. Intentional communities - Beacon Hill Village in Boston is the pioneer - are grassroots organizations that support residents who want to age in place by providing services and a sense of community.

U.S. Census Bureau data shows about 4 million households inhabited by unrelated adults, but many of them are younger room-mates. However, a variation on the room-mate arrangement is cooperative housing, a legal partnership where all own, live in and manage the house. 

Cooperative housing is the quick and easy alternative to the larger community concepts It has many of the advantages, but there's a big difference in the level of community involvement and community-building effort required to make it work.

Aging alone is a challenge facing many Americans. One-third of baby boomers are not married, according to the National Centre for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, which also reports that the divorce rate among adults ages 50 and older doubled between 1990 and 2009.

HOW COOP HOUSING WORKS IN CANADA

Housing cooperatives provide not-for-profit residential units for their members. Across Canada, more than 2,100 non-profit housing co-ops are home to about 250,000 people in more than 90,000 residences. In B.C., there are 264 co-ops with 14,698 residential units.

The members do not own equity in their housing. If they move, their home is returned to the coop, to be offered to another individual or family who needs an affordable home.

About half of coop households pay a lower reduced monthly rent (housing charge) geared to their income. Government funds cover the difference between this payment and the coop’s full charge. Other households pay the full monthly charge based on cost.

Because coops charge their members only enough to cover costs, repairs and reserves, they can offer housing that is much more affordable than average private-sector rental costs.

Coop housing also offers security. Coops are controlled by their members, who have a vote in decisions about their housing. There is no outside property owner.

A 2003 Canadian Mortgage and Housing Center study found that housing coops cost less to operate — about 14 percent less than municipal or private non-profit housing.

Over the years, federal and provincial governments have funded various programs to help Canadians create non-profit housing co-ops. The co-ops developed under these programs provide good quality, affordable housing. 

All coops in Canada operate under the following principles:

Co-ops come in various forms, but in general, they are not-for-profit housing for people who become members through a share purchase. Many co-ops offer a rental subsidy, paid by the government, based on 30 percent of income, for a portion of their units; the other units pay a rental amount that is determined based on costs. In some co-ops, such as the Athletes’ Village Housing Co-operative or the recently announced Fraserview Co-op, there are no government subsidies, but 25 percent of the units must be rented to low or moderate-income people who pay just 30 percent of their income. 

SOCIAL INTERACTION

Where I live can be a lonely place. Last year, the Vancouver Foundation surveyed city residents and found that one in four respondents felt alone more often than they would like, and one-third considered Vancouver a difficult place to make friends. One-third said they have little interest in getting to know their neighbours, while half said they don’t volunteer in their community. Most co-ops are designed to be inclusive of all residents. 

For example, members are expected to participate in everything from cleaning the common areas to sitting on the board of directors. One of the committees at the China Creek Co-op is a social committee, which plans community-building events, such as last year’s Christmas party that one of the community said attracted more than 60 people. One of the members said, “It actually bonds us. We spent $10,000 to retrofit our common room into a community kitchen that can have a sit-down dinner for 30 people. At our Christmas dinner, we do the whole thing with turkeys, hams — the whole nine yards”.