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21-562: Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative is the largest student housing cooperative in the United Kingdom , providing affordable housing for the co-operative's 106 student members. The co-operative opened in the summer of 2014. The co-operative manages two neighbouring properties at Wright's Houses in Bruntsfield , Edinburgh , overlooking the historic Bruntsfield Links . It is also notable for organising and managing itself using

42-671: A secondary co-operative for raising finances to buy property to lease to student housing co-operatives. The organisation has similarities to North American Students of Cooperation . An unsuccessful plan to launch a student housing co-operative took place in 2004, when MMUnion partnered with the National Union of Students and Confederation of Co-operative Housing to offer cheaper cooperatively owned alternatives to city housing for Manchester Metropolitan University students. The NUS plan fell through as NUS management changed. Artist, student and community co-operatives are common in

63-451: A UK wide federation of student co-operatives which includes a number of other groups across the UK working to establish student housing co-operatives. Students for Cooperation commissioned a report on establishing a National Body of Student Housing Cooperatives (NBSHC) to help support and grow the UK student housing cooperative movement. In 2018 this new body, Student Co-op Homes, was launched as

84-822: A cheap alternative to dorm life for women scholars. The Berkeley Student Cooperative , amongst others, started during the Great Depression to help provide affordable food and housing for Berkeley students. Other early examples that started in the Depression years: the Cooperative Living Organization at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida founded in 1931 and the Michigan Socialist House at

105-417: A housing cooperative. Most student housing cooperative members have full voting privileges on issues such as rent, future members, and community activity and then maintain an elected board of committee members who oversee the running of the cooperative. Many student housing cooperatives require work shifts that help lower the overall cost of living. These may include chores or cooking. Some coops award points to

126-410: A system of direct democracy , with as much of the work as possible undertaken directly by its members. The co-operative is a member of Students for Cooperation , a federation of student co-operatives across the UK, alongside the UK's two other operating student housing co-operatives, Birmingham Student Housing Co-operative and Sheffield Student Housing Co-operative . The co-operative is managed by

147-844: A way to defray the costs of living for students during the Great Depression . Throughout the 1930s, the members of Michigan House managed to provide themselves with full room and board for only two dollars a week, making headlines. In 1939, the members of the house voted to change the name to Michigan Cooperative House, though many people still refer to it by its original name. Today, Michigan Cooperative House continues to provide housing, food and community living for students and non-students in Ann Arbor. Michigan Cooperative's functions are intertwined with its neighboring co-op house, Minnie's Cooperative. The two houses used to be technically two distinct co-ops, functioning as one unit, sharing meals and many aspects of their house cultures. They combined into

168-478: Is entirely voluntary though strongly encouraged and all working groups are open to all members. The student co-operative is home to a broad range of people from a variety of different backgrounds with a significant portion of the community coming from abroad. Membership is open to all students although there is a majority from the University of Edinburgh due to its proximity, some members study at Edinburgh College and others at Edinburgh Napier University . Despite

189-595: Is located at 315 N. State Street. It is one of the co-op houses making up the Inter-Cooperative Council . In 2016 Michigan Cooperative House and the neighboring Minnies Cooperative House voted to combine the two coops and become one functioning, democratically run cooperative. Michigan Socialist House was founded in 1932 by a group of students in the University of Michigan Socialist Club as an experiment in putting socialist values into practice and

210-560: The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan founded in 1932. Others were formed to provide a more inclusive and supportive environment for students. Many student housing cooperatives are focused around socialist principles or political activism ( Michigan Socialist House ), veganism or vegetarianism , racial or ethnic identity ( Biko ), or environmental concerns. Throughout the twentieth century, student housing cooperatives expanded, but some floundered. Many formed coalitions in

231-488: The Inter-Cooperative Council at the University of Michigan, and UCLA University Cooperative Housing Association with 400+ students. Other examples of such cooperatives include: Michigan Socialist House Michigan Cooperative House was founded in 1932 as Michigan Socialist House . It was located at 335 E. Ann Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan , near the University of Michigan campus, and now

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252-698: The San Francisco Bay Area. Many of these housing co-operatives are members of organizations such as NASCO . Currently, the second biggest student housing co-op in the world is Berkeley Student Cooperative , formerly known as the University Students Cooperative Association, in Berkeley, CA with 1250 students living in 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes. Other large-scale co-op systems include MSU Student Housing Cooperative of Michigan State University,

273-572: The co-operative is delegated to four working groups; Procedures, Places, People and Participation. These working groups meet on a weekly basis and report directly to the General Meeting. Each working group has a specific remit, whether finances, logistics, maintenance, development, outreach, conflict mediation, or encouraging involvement. These working groups can then be split into further sub-groups, such as finance, gardening, cooking, welfare or data-management. Attendance at working group meetings

294-652: The co-operative. A waiting list is available for applicants which are not immediately successful. There is no fee for application, and applicants may re-apply as often as they wish. There is a high demand on places at the co-operative with a ratio ten applicants for every one available space in January 2016. Student housing cooperative Most student housing coops in Canada and the United States are members of North American Students of Cooperation . Several of

315-470: The earliest US student cooperatives (e.g. at Northwestern University and Wellesley College ) had begun by at least 1915, for the purpose of housing female students. Most student housing cooperatives are formed to provide an alternative dorm for students who are unable to afford college due to housing costs. For example, the Harriet E. Richards House at Boston University (1928) was established to provide

336-402: The face of rising debt or bankruptcy. The North American Students of Cooperation ( NASCO ) was formed in 1968 as a way to link existing cooperatives together while educating and improving cooperatives across North America. Today, NASCO primarily serves as an association that promotes development and communication amongst coops and promotes communal living. There is not a standard way of running

357-540: The majority of members being undergraduate students, there is also a sizeable postgraduate community at the co-operative. There are currently two principal application periods for membership of the co-operative, these are in February and October for admittance in September and January respectively, however move-in dates are often flexible. Applications are evaluated anonymously and are then voted on by current members of

378-817: The management of empty properties to rent to students. L'ACLEF operates CoopColoc, housing students in Paris and Bordeaux alongside Campus & Toits in Toulouse . There is one operational student housing co-operative in Switzerland: There are four operational student housing co-operatives in the UK: There are also initiatives at various stages of development to establish housing co-operatives in Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol. All operating coops and initiatives are members of Students for Cooperation ,

399-405: The students which live there, with all 106 members having an equal say in the running of the buildings. The sovereign decision-making body of the co-operative is the General Meeting which takes place on a bi-weekly basis and is open to all members. The General Meeting has a required quorum of 25, meaning that if too few members attend then proposals cannot be passed. Most of the work required to run

420-619: The type of chore and members are required to complete a certain number of points a week. All cooperatives expect members to contribute assistance throughout the year to keep the cooperative running smoothly and efficiently. It is up to the individual coops as to whether the members elect a board or committee to oversee the entire cooperative. Two student housing co-operatives are presently operating in Australia: Student co-operatives are situated in close proximity to colleges and universities. The biggest student housing co-operative in

441-494: The world is Waterloo Co‑operative Residence Inc. in Waterloo , Ontario with 1300 resident members. The East Coast is represented by: Central Canada is represented by: The West Coast is represented by: Many of the co-ops are members of The Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada and NASCO . In France L’Association de Coopération pour le Logement des Etudiant·es de France (L'ACLEF), founded in 2015, exists to take on

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