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About Chile

San Pedro de la Paz

San Pedro de la Paz

Introduction

Chile has a GDP per capita of 16,616 USD (World Bank, 2023) but ranks 24th in inequality among OECD countries. One of the main signs of social inequality is seen in the lack of access to basic welfare conditions, such as suitable housing for middle-class, emerging, and vulnerable families. The housing shortage is measured based on the following three criteria (INE National Statistics Institute):

1) living in an unrecoverable home
2) forming a close household
3) belonging to overcrowded secondary nuclei

Over the past 25 years, there has been a significant reduction in the housing shortage at a national level through subsidized housing initiatives. However, the number of families living in camps has increased by 48% from 2011 to 2017, with 40,541 families residing in 702 camps.

Presently, programs are in place to assist families in camps, such as the Housing Solidarity Fund (D.S 49) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and the Social Integration subsidies (DS No. 116, later replaced by DS No. 19).

Integration subsidies aim to promote social integration, reduce inequalities, and enhance citizen participation through policies, programs, and initiatives focused on creating high-quality housing, well-equipped neighbourhoods, and socially and territorially integrated cities.  Moreover, they contribute to the reactivation of the economy by providing incentives for the development of housing projects for purchase with a state subsidy.

Conavicoop

The Conavicoop cooperative has been working with integration subsidies since 2015, adapting to the requirements and demands, to incorporate members from vulnerable, emerging, and middle sectors into the cooperative. Through minimum savings, the state’s subsidy contribution, and all the support and advice from the cooperative, members can choose to become owners of a decent home.

The cooperative is responsible for the management and formalization of subsidies, support in portfolio maintenance, mortgage loans, deeds, registration and all operations managed by Conavicoop.

Since the inception of the social integration subsidy, Conavicoop cooperative has provided 6,547 housing units, with 40% of these located in the metropolitan region of Santiago.

Commitments of the Conavicoop cooperative:

1. Provide support, seek peace of mind, identify and satisfy the requirements of its members.
2. Provide excellent service, ensuring constant communication with its members in an environment of trust and respect.
3. Generate solid relationships based on the principles of confidentiality, transparency, responsibility and non-discrimination.
4. Work together with its members to multiply the positive impact on the social aspects that affect the environment.
5. Conavicoop conducts workshops on various topics about housing for its members at different stages of the process. This helps clarify doubts and questions, as well as generating community among neighbours before they have access to their homes.

Housing Demand

Minvu estimates that the projected housing demand in Chile for 2022 is 643,534 houses, based on data from the 2017 Census and the current 80,000 families living in encampments. The plan will address at least 40% of these housing requirements, concentrated mainly in Santiago which contains around 40% of the national shortage, followed by the Valparaíso and Biobío Regions.

Key Points of the Emergency Housing Plan

The Emergency Housing Plan aims to fulfill the mission entrusted to Minvu (Housing and Urban Development Ministry) in 2022 to overcome unequal access to good quality housing. The key points are listed below:

  • Recover the State’s role in housing planning and management
  • Build 260,000 houses during the government’s term of office
  • Promote projects in all the country’s municipalities and ensure social facilities are included
  • Strengthen the Public Land Bank
  • Diversify types of access to housing, such as self-management and cooperatives, and promote fair-price rentals
  • Develop direct relationships with residents and local governments
  • Develop more efficient, modern and sustainable construction processes for homes

It also responds to more recent phenomena in housing demand and the lifestyles of Chilean residents, such as housing mobility and high rental values. It diversifies access to housing and its tenure, and it includes measures that respond to informal housing, overcrowding, isolation, encampments, the need for protection and prolonged wait lists for housing in the case of committees. It also received proposals from regional governments and municipalities, which ensured that its objectives are relevant.

The Emergency Housing Plan defines annual objectives by region and municipality and establishes mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating progress, which will be regularly reported to Congress.

Approximately 80,000 families are living in encampments, and the plan includes measures specifically aimed at helping them through the “Construyendo Barrios” (Building Neighborhoods) program. This will address 300 encampments or irregular urban settlements that are being rectified, which will regulate and urbanize them, to the benefit of approximately 25,000 families.

Cooperative Housing Models

Limited cooperatives: These cooperatives have a maximum of 200 members and limited capital. They need to apply for a new legal status every time they reach 200 members. Each time they apply, they start without prior experience in financing and construction. It’s challenging to certify their savings, and their members are restricted to a single housing complex (Ruiz-Tagle, J., 2020).

Open cooperatives: These organizations make a permanent contribution to their members’ housing issues. To operate, they require a minimum capital, have an unlimited number of members (but at least 200), and operate indefinitely. They can be a single cooperative with different housing plans, and they can provide financing facilities and savings certification. The main goal of an open cooperative is to find housing solutions for its members without profit motives, providing the following services: – Organizing demand and educating members on the importance of systematic savings to achieve homeownership goals – Developing housing programs with appropriate urban planning, architecture, and construction techniques at competitive costs – Delivering homes at their actual costs, benefiting from economies of scale For instance, Conavicoop is one of Chile’s largest open housing cooperatives and one of the 1,403 cooperatives in Chile. It is also one of the two cooperatives in Chile that are part of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).

Resources Tagged "Chile"

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The Guidance Notes on the Co-operative Principles

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Promoting Cooperatives – International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation 193 on the Promotion of Cooperatives

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Profiles of a Movement: Co-operative Housing around the World – Volume One

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