This report presents the findings of the ARC Linkage Project Articulating Value in Housing Co-operatives, undertaken in partnership with the Australian Co-operative Housing Alliance. It presents the first data set on affordable rental housing co-operatives across New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.

Australia’s housing affordability crisis results from an over-reliance on just two options – private home ownership and private renting. To tackle it, a wider repertoire of policies is required. This report brings together three essays from writers with knowledge of Australian and Nordic social policy, with a focus on housing and homelessness.

Housing cooperatives are a growing presence in Australia’s housing system, providing a diversity of housing forms to a variety of household types across the income spectrum, typically serving low- and moderate-income households. The research presented in this report reviewed a selection of international cooperative housing sectors in addition to the Australian context.