Government Subsidies and Housing Cooperatives - A Good Match to Create more Affordable Housing?

The shortage of affordable housing has become a major challenge across Europe. Although housing cooperatives provide long-term affordable housing, they continue to receive limited attention in housing policy. Using Berlin as a case-study, this thesis examines the relationship between state subsidies and housing cooperatives, asking what factors cooperative decision-makers consider when deciding whether to use subsidies to construct new dwellings. The aim of this thesis is to understand the necessary means to promote affordable, subsidized housing through the expansion of housing cooperatives. The analysis of semi-structured interviews with executive board members shows the diversity of factors cooperative decision-makers consider. External factors such as the design of the examined subsidy programs, the lack of affordable building land, and current construction prices interact with internal factors like cooperative principles. Together they seem to pose an obstacle for housing cooperatives to utilize subsidies. These results offer insights for policymakers seeking to strengthen the role of housing cooperatives in Berlin. As they touch on core characteristics of housing cooperatives, they can be applied to other contexts and levels of government as well.