Amidst surging prices and shrinking supplies, many Americans feel the cost of the housing market weighing heavy on their pocketbooks. During the COVID-19 pandemic alone, the average price of a home rose about 19% in 2021 and over 30% in the last two years as measured by the Case Shiller national home price index. And rising home prices are also linked to higher rents as well, reflecting the overall lack of affordable housing options for the average American. However, in Canada, Non-Profit Housing Co-operatives have offered some reprieve as a government-sponsored solution to rising rental prices. The Co-operative Housing movement emerged in the 1970s, but our guest says that it could be one of the modern-day solutions that we should consider for the present. Margaret “Peggy” Kohn is a Professor of Political Theory at the University of Toronto and an author of multiple books, most recently The Death and Life of the Urban Commonwealth published by Oxford University Press
The Conversation | Housing co-ops could solve Canada’s housing affordability crisis
Photo by Qusai Akoud on Unsplash
Did you enjoy this story? Your funding makes great, local journalism like this possible. Donate here
