Cohousing-L Mailing List: Affordable Cohousing, Renters vs Owners

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jan 12, 2008, at 11:58 PM, tom shea wrote:

> I am indeed speaking of affordable as "ability to pay" rather than a  
> refection of regional market price.  You also raise the concept of  
> egalitarian community (build to the same standards).  Do you think  
> that putting everyone on a level playing field in this manner from  
> day one would discourage potential future investors (i.e. community  
> members) once built units return to the market, or for that matter  
> prevent initial investors?  Is there enough individuality on the  
> interior of units to prevent this from occurring?  Would different  
> standards apply to rental units verses owned?

In cohousing the investors are the people who will live in the housing  
-- outside investors are rare. There could be variation in the size of  
the units (studio, one bedroom, etc) but smaller will always be less  
expensive. The costs that you have less control over are land value  
and the simple square footage costs of construction required by  
building codes. Codes can greatly influence the price of a house. 60  
minutes once did a  piece on single-room occupancy housing. The  
builder could build twice as cheaply in I think it was Seattle than he  
could in Manhattan because of out dated building code requirements.  
Land and codes are why many communities can build more cheaply in  
rural areas.

These are the costs that make smaller less expensive. Above that you  
can only control things like number of bathrooms, surface treatments,  
quality of kitchen cabinets, etc.

I don't think the need for less expensive housing will go away anytime  
soon. And the various homeowners will upgrade their homes differently  
so there will be variation. It won't affect resale value to have the  
units all look alike. Developers do this as standard practice in all  
condominiums and housing developments. It simplifies construction,  
purchasing, and inventory, thus reduces labor costs.

It is also very convenient to have a unit with a floor plan like my  
neighbors because I can see how they arrange their furniture or  
replace a cabinet or add a counter. It gives me ideas. And we all  
complain about the same things.

Different standards for rentals and owned units is something that I  
think has led to the differing values applied to renters vs owners.  
This originated when there were class issues associated with owning  
vs. renting. The more educated and affluent could afford to own.  
Others had to rent -- no choice. This led to housing that reflected  
socio-economic class differences reinforced by cheap, substandard  
housing and declining neighborhoods. Deteriorating or out of favor  
homes, like urban townhouses for example, were chopped up into  
apartments. Many did not even have bathtubs and they shared toilets.  
This led to renters being less invested in their homes and in their  
neighborhoods. Vicious cycle. The housing projects in urban areas were  
doomed to failure.

Developers still follow practices like putting more expensive  
countertops in larger homes --if you can afford 5 bedrooms and a three  
car garage you can afford granite countertops. If they are building a  
one bedroom, they put in the cheapest formica. The idea of smaller but  
the same quality is not standard practice. Nor is quality in rented vs  
owned.

A developer is building high-end rentals near me. In Manhattan it is  
common to rent and there I've seen 400 sq ft studios with marble  
bathrooms and huge lobbies and common areas in rentals. So this  
attitude might be changing but in real estate nothing changes fast  
except prices.

Sorry this is so long, but it took me a long time to realize that  
cohousing is housing -- it's real estate development. It may be real  
estate development attached to community but real estate is what  
distinguishes cohousing from other kinds of community. And it has  
grown exponentially since professional real estate developers have  
become interested. I like to share that perspective with new cohousers  
because it helps to get to that understanding quickly.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Sociocracy, a Deeper Democracy
http://www.sociocracy.info