About Habicoop – The French Federation of Housing Cooperatives

Habicoop, the French federation of housing cooperatives, includes resident-led housing cooperatives (both completed and in progress), support organizations, local advocacy groups, partner institutions, and individual members. As of the end of 2021, Habicoop had 98 members.

Founded in Lyon, France, in 2005, Habicoop emerged from the convergence of ideas from the social and solidarity economy, the associative sector, and the community housing movement. Local activists engaged with environmental, urban planning, and social issues initiated the organization.  In addition, the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council, Urscoop (a regional cooperative union), housing professionals and academic researchers provided support.

International study trips informed Habicoop’s early vision for cooperative housing. These included site visits to the CoDha cooperative in Geneva (Switzerland), the Vauban eco-district in Freiburg (Germany), and self-managed housing cooperatives in Quebec (Canada).

Three Core Objectives

Habicoop was created to pursue three foundational goals:

1. Enable citizen-led initiatives as a catalyst for change in the housing sector.

2. Support ecological housing projects, which were still rare in France at the time.

3. Develop a non-speculative public policy tool—an alternative to traditional ownership and rental models—that balances private initiative with collective and public interest.

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