Community real estate development > Community housing
The community housing developed by ACRED is based on the principles of tenant-occupied housing cooperatives in community ownership. This means that both the common areas and the personal spaces are owned by a legal entity. These legal entities can be an association or cooperative, of which the residents are members. Thus the residents own the property indirectly through their membership of the organization. The residents pay regular fees to the owner organization for the use of the accommodation and jointly manage the house (e.g. maintenance, cleaning of common areas) and the financial and organizational affairs of the house. The aim of a tenants’ housing association is to provide affordable and predictable housing for those who have little capital or no predictable regular income and are therefore unable to obtain a mortgage (and thus home ownership).
Interested in a tenant-led housing cooperative? Click here to find out more.
The Zugló Collective House
The community-owned property is run by one of the founding members of ACRED, the Zugló Collective House Association (ZCHA), which was established by the residents. The building consists of 220 sqm of living space and is occupied by seven people who pay a contribution of 60% of market rents. This is used to repay loans taken out to buy and renovate the property and to run and maintain the building.
The community took ownership of the house during the summer of 2018 and, after a short renovation, the founders moved in in January 2019. 55% of the purchase costs were covered by the founding members’ savings, and 45%, by loans from friends. During the renovation, the building, which previously had three residential units, was converted by the collective into a community housing space. The plans for the renovation were drawn up by a member of the CoHousing Budapest Association, while the construction work was carried out by Gólya Builders and dozens of volunteers.
Community operation > Community spaces
Social organizations and solidarity economy enterprises are often undercapitalised to acquire their own property and may find it difficult to find suitable workspace, community space or workshops in other ways. That is why ACRED is also committed to providing them with affordable and stable space. One possible way to do this is through the acquisition and redevelopment of under-utilized properties, which is preferred from both a financial and environmental perspective.
By operating properties with primarily non-residential functions, we mean mixed-use properties that are adequate for coworking spaces and community spaces, with as broad a range of public functions as possible.
The Kazan Community House
The Kazan Community House is one of the first community-owned, grassroots community spaces in the country after the 2008 crisis. The project is located on a nearly 1000 m2 property at 46-48 Orczy Street, the property being part of the Ganz-site. The building was purchased by the Gólya Cooperative, one of the founding members of ACRED, in 2018, and renovated through community work. Resources for the project were raised through loans from friends, loans from business partners, a bank loan, and community funding.
The community center currently houses 8 organizations in addition to the Gólya Cooperative (i.e. Gólya Pub, Gólya Builders and Gólya Courier): Lahmacun Community Online Radio, Octopus Studios’ community workshops, the editorial office of Mérce, the Gólyafészek Day Care, the Solidarity Economy Centre, Helyzet Műhely, Periféria Centre, the office of Deviszont Community Space, and our organisation, the Alliance for Community Real Estate Development. In addition, a number of organizations will use the property space on an ad hoc basis. From 2022 ACRED manages Kazán, with operational responsibilities based on jointly developed principles.
To learn more about Kazán Community Centre, read on!
The Kazán Community House is also an energy community: the energy price savings made possible by the solar panels on the roof of the building are put into a common fund. This can be used by the partner organizations to improve the building’s energy efficiency.
Interested in the energy community? Click here to find out more.