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Table of Contents
Resources about cohousing and co-op housing in Australia
Podcasts
ABC Big Ideas: No place like an (affordable) home (Jun 2023)
“Decades of policies designed to reward private ownership and rentals have created a market unlike any other, and today, house and rent prices have escalated beyond many people's means. It's certainly a far-cry from the Australia of the post-war period… even Menzies spent big on public housing.
But change may be afoot. The Government's signature Housing Future Fund is on the table, with an extra 2 billion promised for social housing — albeit recently stalled.
So why has equitable housing become such a vexed and complex issue for Australia? And what are the steps to take if we actually want to tackle the housing crisis once and for all?”
“Who sets the agenda when it comes to designing houses? More often than not wealthy developers call the shots. And the result is cheaply-made hot boxes, unaffordable to live in, and poorly designed for human habitation.
How did it come to this, and how can citizens and architects seize control?
Meet 3 international trailblazers who want to change who controls what we get to call home — what housing looks like, how it feels to live in, and how affordable it is.
Hear about an inspirational co-op model in Barcelona driven by architects who needed an affordable place to call home and had social change on their minds.”
Tell me more about Cohousing podcast
“Our members Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika get together weekly to chat about cohousing topics. They reflect on a broad range of questions, observations, challenges and successes related to their forming cohousing community and the world around them. They are newbies to the podcasting world, refining their craft each week. Come along for the ride! They're fun and look forward to your comments. Lynn & Kelli
For more information on CoHousing Houston go to www.cohousinghouston.com”
Recent episodes:
- S4 Episode 19 - Living in cohousing at all stages of life by Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika (2026/02/27 14:00)
- S4 Episode 18 - 2026 Update - What is going on in Houston!? by Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika (2026/02/13 21:00)
- S4 Episode 17 - What is GRIT in Cohousing? by Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika (2025/12/18 17:00)
- S4 Episode 16: Chuck Durrett on founding the cohousing movement and where he thinks it could go next by Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika (2025/11/14 06:00)
- S4 Episode 15: Founders Series, CoHousing Houston's Very Own Tom & Lynn! by Lynn Morstead & Kelli Soika (2025/11/07 06:00)
Dreams to Realty: Benefits of Housing Co-Ops with Linda Seaborn from BCCM (March 2024)
“Sage a researcher and reporter shares insights from a Senior Policy Advisor at the Business Council of Co-ops and Mutuals Australia. The benefits of the housing co-op model is discussed and Linda shares insights from her experience living in a housing co-op in Tasmania and researching them globally.”
Articles
A proven policy roadmap for delivering more affordable & better quality housing supply
“In 2002 the Berlin Senate cut funding for all housing programs. It was broke. With this change in policy, along with a severe economic recession, investors and developers effectively stopped building housing. At this time many people, mainly families who wanted to remain in the inner city, were not finding what they wanted, predominately in the rental market. Architects picked up on this potential market and started to develop projects themselves with a design for an empty site, then found enough partners to buy it and build.”
Covers history, financing and legal background for housing co-ops in Australia.
The Third Way: A Cooperative Affordable Rental Model for Sydney (2019)
Short handout produced for the City of Sydney describing the co-operative housing model and a proposed pilot project.
Reports and long form
How feasible is a new generation of housing co-operatives in Australia? (2023) (Web page version)
This report contains detailed financial and ecosystem analysis of an at-cost housing cooperative development in inner Sydney.
What Australia can learn from European affordable co-operative rental housing models (2024) (PDF report)
The BCCM led a study tour to 3 European cities in 2024 to explore their co-operative sector. This report explains what they learned.
The Value Of Housing Co-Operatives In Australia: A Western Sydney University report (2024) (PDF report)
A research project led by Professor Louise Crabtree-Hayes at Western Sydney University’s Institute for Culture and Society recently launched a report on the national study of affordable rental housing co-operatives, The research shows the benefits of such co-operatives, which may provide affordable and stable housing choices across Australia amid a growing housing and rental crisis.
Australia's housing co-op sector (2024)
Report containing statistics about the co-operative housing sectors across Australia.
Unlocking the Doors: Legal & financial pathways to Resident-Led housing in Australia (2023)
Unlocking the Doors 2: Planning pathways and advice for Resident-Led Housing in Australia (2025)
The guide was funded by a City of Sydney Knowledge Exchange Grant, was commissioned by CoHousing Australia and produced by Caitlin Mcgee (Institute of Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney) and Dr Matt Daly (Sustainable Building Research Centre, University of Wollongong).
It is based on research and consultation with resident groups and various experts in the field. The hope is that the guide becomes used by community and resident groups like a workbook that can be used and tested thoroughly.
The authors want want it to be a circular guide where your experience of using it is fed back to update and improve on so that all cohousing and collaborative housing groups can benefit.
Cohousing residents report (2024)
In 2022, Urban Planning interns from RMIT surveyed urban planners in local government to capture their understanding of the cohousing model on behalf of CoHousing Australia. The aim of that research was to understand barriers to cohousing and related 'resident-led' typologies within the planning schema and planning culture. The survey was followed by a small number of interviews with planning professionals.
Using a similar methodology, this research piece included a survey and related infographics developed by student interns (see acknowledgements above) and interviewed led by Grassroots Research Studio. The survey was emailed to all known cohousing/eco communities in Australia and New Zealand and received 35 responses in total. 15 follow-up interviews were conducted.
Housing co-operatives in Australia (2022)
“This paper will provide a historical overview of housing co-operatives in Australia. It will begin with a discussion of the main co-operative focus on housing in Australia, which was the formation of building societies to provide funding for the purchase of individual homes. It will then look at the history of Australian housing co-operatives in Australia highlighting the trends and forms of housing co-operatives. It will conclude with a brief discussion of the implications for the present debates about affordable housing in Australia.”