Since 1954, Confcooperative Habitat has united cooperative housing construction companies and their consortia operating in housing services under Confcooperative, the Confederation of Italian Cooperatives. Its main responsibility is to represent their interests towards national and community institutions, bodies, and organizations, as well as to provide the necessary assistance and services for the development of cooperative companies in the residential sector.

Specifically, Confcooperative Habitat focuses on addressing, representing, and protecting housing cooperatives; promoting the entrepreneurial development of associated entities and the increase and redevelopment of the housing stock in urban contexts that meet the community’s needs; promoting the well-being of members and individuals in their housing and urban environment by involving and networking resources in the area; promoting the creation of social housing in the context of social and sustainable residential construction and related services; organizing professional training initiatives for members, staff, and managers of associated entities in collaboration with regional structures; promoting, coordinating, and directly managing subsidiarity functions between regional federations to support the development of housing cooperatives throughout the national territory and the dissemination of positive experiences already in place; and providing information and updating activities on the technical, regulatory, and economic fronts dedicated to associated entities and the promotion of cooperative culture in general.

Since January 2011, Confcooperative Habitat and the other two cooperative centers, Legacoop Abitanti and Agci Abitazione, have been involved in the national coordination of the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives, housing sector. Among its objectives is to establish a modern cooperation, strengthened by the experiences of the three centers, aiming for an overall growth in the quality of living in cities through thematic work groups that address the problems of access to credit, taxation, and the building and urban redevelopment of inhabited centers.

Following the National Assembly of Confcooperative Habitat in June 2018, Confcooperative assigned the federation the task of representing the growing number of associated community cooperatives. The first assembly of the Community Cooperatives Sector within Habitat took place on July 21, 2021.

New Housing Program Launches to Support Affordable, Resilient Housing for Global Communities

Swedish organizations and CHI members, We Effect, HSB, and Riksbyggen are joining forces to launch an international housing program focused on expanding access to adequate housing for people facing poverty. By leveraging Sweden’s cooperative housing expertise, this collaboration aims to support low-income communities worldwide in organizing, building skills, and securing financing for housing initiatives.Read More

Community Africa Report

Financing Co-operative and Mutual Housing

The Commission's final report on Cooperative and Mutual Housing (Bringing Democracy Home) highlighted the need for consideration of the role that cooperative and mutual housing could play in the national housing strategy. The Fina ...Read More

Financing and Development Global Report

Logement abordable : profils de cinq villes métropolitaines

Par cette publication, nous souhaitons ouvrir le débat sur le logement en tant que droit fondamental et enjeu métropolitain, en mettant en lumière l’expérience de grandes métropoles et dans l’espoir d’inspirer des idées nouvelles pour aborder cet enjeu absolument fondamental de l’urbanisation moderne.Read More

Advocacy Global

Towards the Localization of the Sustainable Development Goals

The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments prepared a report showcasing how cities and regions are fostering alternative housing policies to support the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. With increased urbanization, ...Read More

Advocacy Global

Building Strong Development Cooperation: Partnership Opportunities between Cooperatives and the EU

In 2000, United Nations (UN) member states recognised the need to build global partnerships for development and the exchange of expertise as one of the Millennium Development Goals. Across the international development field, part ...Read More

Financing and Development Global

Raising Capital: The Capital Conundrum for Co-operatives

New report: The Capital Conundrum for Co-operatives "The Capital Conundrum for Co-operatives", a new report released by the Alliance’s Blue Ribbon Commission explores ideas and options available to co-operatives that need suitab ...Read More

Financing and Development Global

Sustainable Use of Forests: an Urgent Global Challenge

The unsustainable exploitation of our planet’s forests is a major contributor to global warming and threatens the future of humanity. Co-operative Housing International believes that the co-operative family has a role to play to prevent the ongoing degradation of the forests and is calling all co-operatives to support its Sustainable Management Forest Initiative.Read More

Sustainability Global

Financing Housing Co-operatives in a Credit Crunch

Financing the development of housing co-operatives is a challenge and more so in time of financial restrictions and uncertainty.  CHI members discussed the issue during a seminar held in November 2009 in Geneva.  Presentations w ...Read More

Financing and Development Global

What’s new in Sustainable Forest Management?

 The Forest Products Annual Market Review 2013 reports that the development of new refinement processes has led to the production of new and more affordable wood based products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT). The report sta ...Read More

Sustainability Global

The Guidance Notes on the Co-operative Principles

Updated Guidance Notes on the Co-operative Principles, edited by David Rodgers, former President of Co-operative Housing InternationalRead More

Governance Global

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

The ILO views cooperatives as important in improving the living and working conditions of women and men globally as well as making essential infrastructure and services available even in areas neglected by the state and investor-driven enterprises. Cooperatives have a proven record of creating and sustaining employment – they provide over 100 million jobs today; they advance the ILO’s Global Employment Agenda and contribute to promoting decent work.Read More

Legal Global

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

This first volume includes the co-operative housing profile of 22 countries. This report presents the history and the current realities of co-operative housing around the world.  CHI is currently in the process of updating the ...Read More

Community Global

Students and Housing Cooperatives

Student housing cooperatives have become very popular in the USA and many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCO. Unlike a resident who acquires shares at market rates to earn the right to occupy ...Read More

Community Global

Environment Sustainability and Climate Change Seminars

To further our commitment towards sustainable sources of timber and forest products and to provide co-operators more information on the certification programmes and successful sustainable initiatives, CHI organized a seminar on S ...Read More

Sustainability Global

Housing Co-operatives and Climate Change

ICA members adopted a resolution at the 2007 General Assembly calling on the co-operative movement to do its share in combating climate changes. The resolution suggests three ways on how the co-op movement can act now: Measure and ...Read More

Sustainability Global

Legal Frameworks for Housing Co-operatives: Seminars

As part of CHI's plan to map its activities to the International Co-operative Alliance's Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, CHI held a seminar on one of the Blueprint elements:  Legal Frameworks for Housing Co-operatives. “Co ...Read More

Legal Global

Good Governance Charter for Housing Co-operatives

 The Good Governance Charter for Housing Co-operatives was launched at the ICA Housing Plenary in Manchester in November 2012.It has three parts:A 10-point set of good governance practicesAn interpretive statement for each good p ...Read More

Governance Global

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

Volume 2 of the Profiles of a Movement concentrates on the African continent. We are pleased to present the remarkable work achieved by the African co-operators, work accomplished in a very challenging environment. These profil ...Read More

Community Global

Financing and Climate Change Seminars

Seminars about continued public sector investment in co-operative housing in Austria and Canada, innovative funding arrangements created by the co-operative housing sector in Italy and harnessing member investment through co-opera ...Read More

Financing and Development Global

The Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade and its Special Application to the Housing Sector

The Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade is a worldwide campaign to “take the co-operative way of doing business to a new level”. The five key elements of the Blueprint are participation, sustainability, identity, legal frameworks and capital. The Blueprint is particularly relevant to co-operative housing and the Blueprint interpretation for co-operative housing below explains how.Read More

Governance Global