Luxembourg’s legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, has unanimously adopted a motion calling on ministers to develop a national framework for housing co-operatives.
The motion, tabled by the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP), comes as the country’s housing market face worsening affordability issues and supply shortages, with the International Monetary Fund warning in 2022 that residential prices had more than doubled in 10 years.
As has happened in other countries facing a housing crisis, the co-op model has been highlighted as a solution, as a route to tenant empowerment and improved affordability.
The motion, as reported in the Luxembourg Times, enjoyed cross party support and urges ministers to review existing legal and financial frameworks for the sector and consider measures to facilitate the growth of housing co-ops, which face issues over regulatory support, access to land, high costs and obtaining finance.
A report by European Housing Coop (EHC) says co-ops are a very small but slowly growing part of Luxembourg’s housing market, making up less than 1% of living units. The sector is still in its infancy, with handful of active projects, such as Adhoc, the country’s first non-profit housing co-op. Typically, these co-operatives serve 10 to 20 households each.
Recently, adds EHC, national and local authorities have taken “modest steps to encourage co-operatives”, including offering access to affordable land, technical advice, and administrative assistance.
