3 Main Types of Cooperative Housing Societies

May 22, 2022 | Cooperative Housing Society

Cooperative Housing Societies are formed by members with a common goal of fulfilling their housing needs. The ways to fulfill these needs can be many and hence, different types of societies exist. These types feature diverse ways to achieve cooperative housing with a collaborative effort at its core.

In this article, we will highlight the most common types of cooperative housing societies, how they are different from each other and what are some of their key functions.

Most Common Types of Cooperative Housing Societies

The three most important and most commonly registered cooperative housing societies are:

1. Tenant Ownership Cooperative Housing Society

Society purchases/leases land for the construction of houses

2. Tenant Co-Partnership Cooperative Housing Society

Society purchases constructed structures and sell individual units

3. House Mortgage Cooperative Housing Society

Society loans money to members for the construction of individual units

Let’s understand each of these types in detail!

Tenant Ownership CHS

A Tenant Ownership Cooperative Housing Society is a legal housing entity formed with the initiation purpose of either purchasing or leasing land and then constructing some form of housing on it.

Functions

A Tenant Ownership CHS is formed with some core functions in mind. And it is mandatory for a society so registered to fulfill these functions, i.e. to:

  1. purchase or lease land for the construction of houses
  2. develop the land
  3. obtain water, electricity, and other utility connections
  4. divide the land into plots
  5. allot divided plots to member
  6. formulate construction policy
  7. ensure every construction is in accordance with the approved plan
  8. construct approach roads (if needed for member convenience)
  9. raise and collect each member’s share for common facilities’ installation and upkeep expenses

Tenant Co-Partnership CHS

A Tenant Co-Partnership Cooperative Housing Society is a legal housing entity formed with the initiation purpose of purchasing a constructed housing structure and then selling the individuals housing units in it to the members.

Functions

The core obligatory functions with which a Tenant Co-Partnership CHS is formed are to:

  1. purchase duly constructed land or building and sell the flats/shops to members or ensure conveyance of land and building from builder/contractor to registered society
  2. manage and maintain the property in the interest of society members
  3. provide common amenities to members as agreed upon
  4. raise and collect each member’s share for common facilities’ installation and upkeep expenses
  5. arrange social, educational, or recreational events to promote bonding between members

House Mortgage CHS

A House Mortgage Cooperative Housing Society is a legal housing entity formed with the initiation purpose of lending money to its registered members for the construction of individual housing units.

Functions

A House Mortgage CHS is expected to fulfill the following compulsory functions:

  1. sanction loans against property mortgages to members for the construction of houses
  2. sanction loans to members for repairs of an owned house
  3. sanction loans to members for extension of an owned house
  4. purchase or sell property
  5. lease out property
  6. raise funds from state Housing Finance cooperative societies
  7. manage and maintain the property
  8. manage society funds

Other Types of Cooperative Housing Societies

Some of the other lesser-known types of cooperative housing societies are:

Tenants Society

A Tenants Society is a society registered by a group of tenants that are subletting flats in building(s) from landlord(s). The individual housing units were let out after the building(s) were constructed by the landlord(s).

Housing Board Society

A Housing Board Society is a society registered by a group of people who were allotted flats in building(s) constructed by one of the Housing & Area Development Boards.