Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Renters in cohousing

[Bob Morrison (morrison]

On Tue, 11 Apr 1995 22:01:10, Donna Spreitzer <dmspreit [at] 
wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us>
wrote:
>Subject: Re: Renter Members (fwd)

>I just did the math and at N Street Cohousing, of the 35 adults living 
>here, 14 are owners and 21 are renters.

>I want to also put in a plug for a mix of owners and renters.  It allows 
>for more diversity of income levels, primarily lower incomes. If people are 
>truely serious about providing affordable housing, they really shouldn't 
>overlook renting options.  I've observed a real bias in the cohousing 
>movement towards owner-occupied units and I believe this is a real 
>mistake.  For some reason someone got the idea that renters won't carry 
>their load.  At N Street, this couldn't be further from the truth.  

  I agree that there is a bias against renters in cohousing. This bias is
greater in the Northeast. As far as I know, there are almost no rental units
in any of the existing or proposed cohousing communities in New England. 
People will say that renters can be accommodated by people "renting" part
of their homes, but this is not the same.
  Requiring that people buy their units pretty much rules out certain sectors
of society living in cohousing. And not just "low-income" people either.
  I'm glad to hear that the renters at N Street are not freeloaders. Is this
the case with other cohousing communities that have rental units? 

Bob Morrison

Home: Boxboro, MA               Work: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton, MA