Cohousing projects to ease Spain’s real estate crisis

Speculation has become one of the enemies of housing, and is partly to blame for a rampant crisis that punishes citizens. It is a double punishment, because they have to pay for houses that are almost never adapted to the needs of the residents and which prioritize individualization and isolation.

In contrast to traditional rental and sale models, there is something called cohousing, a form of access to a home that has its roots in Denmark in the 1960s. In reality, it works like a cooperative, and this is the most appropriate legal form, since it offers the greatest guarantees for democratic management. These are communities designed, developed and managed by their members and made up of private-use housing with common spaces for shared services and care.

The key is that many of these projects rely on a model of housing that means that residents cannot do business with them. The permanent owner of the homes is the cooperative, which transfers their use to the members. If one leaves or dies, the initial fee is returned to the member or his/her heirs. Whoever replaces the member will pay the same fee, that is to say, any revaluations that may have occurred are not applied. “There is no horizontal division, the possibility of trading with the home is eliminated, and it remains outside of speculation and political changes,” says Rubén Méndez, technical secretary of the cooperative housing group REAS.

Under this umbrella there are all kinds of projects, some affordable and others not so much. There are some that require the payment of 20% of the capital (between around $5,000 and $40,000 approximately), or even less (depending on whether there is public funding and subsidies). The rest, up to 80%, can be financed by the cooperative, and this is the monthly fee that each member will pay for the use of the home and common areas. It is a model that is more similar to renting: residents will pay between $300 (or even less with public aid) and $700 a month. In any case, these are rates below market prices: “It is 15% or 20% lower,” says Méndez, who has been paying around $700 a month since the summer at Ametxe, a cooperative in Gordexola, in Spain’s northern Basque region. He sees this model as an alternative to the housing crisis in Spain by “improving access across all income brackets,” and he believes it is the benchmark model for the future.

There is another type of private cohousing that accumulates all or a large part of the capital at the beginning, that is, the member has to contribute the total cost of the house (including the price of the land), which requires a large outlay. It is not suitable for everyone, since the fee is between $100,000 and $300,000 and the monthly payments range from $900 to $1,500, according to María del Carmen Cobano, representative of the cooperative area of Hispacoop. “This is very common in some senior projects, and is currently more similar to a traditional home purchase because capital is accumulated on the house,” adds Méndez. Thus, the amount that is returned when the member leaves is much higher, but it is initially also more inaccessible.

In Spain, the penetration of cohousing is still low, and the movement is seeking more forceful government support to establish itself. Right now there are 179 projects underway across Spain, of which 40 are inhabited and 59 have available land or else the building is under construction. “The number has gone from 100 inhabited homes in 2020 to more than 2,000 in 2025; with the current dynamic, they could double by 2028,” by REAS estimates. One of the first such projects is located in the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona. In 2018, La Borda opened as a self-organized cohousing community of 28 homes. The region of Catalonia, where 1,000 collaborative houses have been built between 2016 and 2024, is the most advanced example of the movement, and it was made possible thanks to public-cooperative collaboration. In the Madrid region, the Trabensol senior complex was a pioneer in Torremocha del Jarama, opening in 2013.

Many of the cohousing projects currently in operation are for older people, generally 55 and over, who are looking for active and healthy aging. “We have completed the building on a 3,000 square meter plot of our own, and we are waiting for the required municipal licenses to begin living there. The membership quota is full and we even have a waiting list,” says Juan de Dios López, coordinator of the advertising, admissions and discharges committee of the Entrecantos senior cohousing complex in Tres Cantos (Madrid). The complex includes 35 apartments, and to access it you have to be between 50 and 70 years old and in good physical and cognitive health. The investment is $260,000 per member (they are still calculating the monthly fee that will cover all the services offered by the cooperative, such as food, cleaning, salaries...). In this case, it is a private initiative project that has opted to accumulate capital on the homes.

Much more than a roof over your head

In Spain, there are 12 senior cohousing projects in operation and around 20 in development. More than a roof over people’s heads, they are meant as an alternative to regular residences and unwanted loneliness. Cohousing is presented as a way to solve social, environmental and economic problems. And especially so in projects aimed at older people, since it is configured as a space where they can live with autonomy. “It is a solution to deal with an aging population and the social changes that society is facing,” says Cobano.

In addition to seniors, there are complexes aimed at intergenerational groups, women, LGTBQ+ people, people with functional diversity and young people. “Each project is unique and unrepeatable, they are tailor-made for each group and designed by the group,” says Méndez.

Axuntase, the first cohousing project in Asturias, began in 2014 from the union of five women between the ages of 39 and 64. “It is intergenerational, it is aimed at all types of people from zero to 70 years old,” says Mary Asun Rodríguez, president of Axuntase, one of the women who began to shape the project when she retired at age 64. She is now 74. The project includes 30 homes and 1,000 square meters of common areas (community dining room, laundry room...) that are under construction. “By next summer we will be living there.”

The investment, financed through ethical banking, has exceeded $7 million. Each member of the project pays $165,000. Rodríguez complains about the lack of public aid. “We claim the community perspective because we are much more competitive than the private sector and because our benefit lies in doing things well. We generate a lot of wealth.” It is a request, along with better taxation rates, that is commonly heard in the sector. “Right now there are grievances that seriously penalize a model that offers much more social value than other solutions,” Méndez concludes.

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