Rental housing co-operatives in focus on ABC News Breakfast

16 April 2025

This morning, Common Equity Housing Limited (CEHL) Managing Director and Chair of the Australian Co-operative Housing Alliance (ACHA), Liz Thomas, appeared on ABC News Breakfast to shine a light on the benefits of co-operative housing.

Liz explained how this transformative model addresses the power imbalance between renters and landlords by providing affordable rents, security of tenure and a sense of agency for residents.

Watch the full interview and read the transcript below.

Link

Read the transcript

ABC: It’s where housing co-ops could make a difference, according to Liz Thomas, chair of the Australian Co-operative Housing Alliance, who joins us in the studio now. Good morning to you, Liz.

Liz: Good morning.

ABC: An issue you’re so passionate about, because in your view, housing co-ops can be quite transformational.

Liz: They can be transformational for the people who live in them because primarily they address the power imbalance between renter and landlord, because the renters are supporting the management, and they’re actively engaged in the management of the properties. Rent’s affordable. So rent is set as a percentage of the household income, 25 per cent of household income. So immediately we know that that’s an affordable rent. There’s the agency people have through living in there, and they have security of tenure. They’re removed from that 12-month rental lease nightmare and have security of tenure for life, for as long as they choose to be there.

ABC: Liz, can you explain a bit more about how the co-ops work? So who runs it? Who owns it? Who can live there?

Liz: So co-ops have a, there are about 8,000 co-op properties across Australia. There are just over two and a half thousand in Victoria. So the majority of them are in Victoria, primarily their rental housing co-operatives. So the organisation that ACHA represents, the uh, housing association holds title to the property and then sublets the properties in perpetuity to independent registered co-operatives who, in turn, manage the properties, choose the tenants and attend to the maintenance of the properties.

ABC: So at the moment, you’ve said less than 1% of our housing stock is actually designated as a co-op

LIZ: across Australia under 1 per cent / ABC: You’d like to see that much higher.

LIZ: As the Australian Co-operative Housing Alliance really believes that we should be targeting that to increase to at least 10 per cent. In parts of Europe, it’s 25%. And we just need to shift that dialogue away from home ownership, to acknowledge that some people who are earning 75, 100 thousand dollars a year, they’ll never get finance for a home. So where do they, um, have permanent tenure between public housing and home ownership and escaping the vagaries of a market-driven private rental economy?

ABC: Tell me about the type of people who live there and how they feel about living there. What’s their experience like in these co-ops?

LIZ: Well, You know, it, it used to be folklore and anecdote to be honest, but now we know that the University of Western Sydney released report findings last year that clearly indicated people who live in co-ops have an increased sense of wellbeing, an increased sense of their health and wellbeing, and that extends to their children as well. The people living in the co-op. It’s like all of us, when we feel empowered, when we have agency over our lives and a say about what happens with our housing, we feel better about ourselves. We also know that the skills people acquire from living in a co-op increase their education, training and employment opportunities. So there’s generally an income eligibility criteria. In Victoria that’s around $75,000 a year. The important thing is, though, as people secure their housing, they do re-enter the workforce, they do take on different educational opportunities, and when they return to the workforce, their income stays at their rent, stays at 25% of their income up to the market rent of the property. And that in turn subsidises the operation of the whole model. So we don’t get government funding for operating our housing. We obviously looked for government funding to develop more housing stock, and that’s what’s really needed at the moment.

ABC: So I guess people would ask, yes, how does it add to supply and the stock that we have, because that seems to be the key debate at the moment.

LIZ: So there is more than enough demand for co-op housing at the moment. In Victoria, we’ve got about a 10 year waiting list for people to..

ABC: Wow

LIZ: …because when people go into a co-op, they stay.

ABC: mm

LIZ: You know, we have about a 2 per cent turnover of co-op membership. So unless we’re building more co-ops, we can’t provide people with that opportunity. We are looking to increase supply, so we can increase offering this opportunity to that next generation who are really looking at being renters for life. What are their options in the housing market to secure permanent tenancy? And that’s what home ownership gives you. It gives you secure housing. So co-ops are a really, a proven way. UK’s just announced 20 million pound investment in co-op housing. Canada’s just announced $1.5 billion investment in co-op housing. Unfortunately, to date, the Australian government hasn’t announced any investment in co-op housing. And that’s really what we are seeking is let’s start talking about a variety of models for permanent secure housing for Australians.

ABC: It’s, uh, such an important conversation. Liz Thomas, thank you very much for your time this morning.