NestEd: Affordable housing for students
A new chapter in community-led housing
Our project was born from a partnership between ACRED (Alliance for Collaborative Real-Estate Development) and the College for Studies in Social Theory student organisation's (Társadalomelméleti Kollégium, TEK) students. The NestEd (Nest as in providing housing and Ed as short for education which are the two pillars of TEK) project is a unique retrofit project combining innovative student housing with collaborative work spaces and community spaces. Together we aim to create a more secure future for TEK, a grassroots college that has been providing training in critical thinking and activism for 44 years. This college has enabled the creation of numerous grassroots organizations in Hungary, all of which are fighting for an equal and just world. The goal of the joint project is to provide community housing for college students, which has two objectives: to create long-term, affordable, community-based housing for the college and its members, and to develop a model that can be used by other student communities. In our search for a new building, we are focusing on the utilization of vacant buildings, energy efficiency and sustainability, and the community-based implementation of the project. In the future home, we will also provide community spaces and offices for other organizations. This setup supports the mission of the college by helping it connect with these activist groups and providing a stable base for partner organizations.
In its past life, the four-story Ganz81 building housed the offices of the largest railway factory in Hungary until the company's privatisation. Its 2nd floor will be refurbished during 2025-2026, and offer 40 dormitory spaces for students, offices, community areas. Ganz81 will be more than a building – it is a bold new chapter in urban revitalisation, powered by collective ownership, community resilience, and an unwavering commitment to affordable, inclusive spaces for all.
The NestEd project is a value-generating non-profit investment, both in terms of its commitment to social and environmental values. However, we also believe that its significance goes beyond its direct impact: it contributes to the establishment of non-profit real estate development in Hungary and serves as an example for the socially aware reuse of urban brownfield sites and industrial heritage, which are underutilised across the country.
Why the Ganz site?
Since the creation of Kazán Community House, ACRED has been paying particular attention to properties located on the Ganz site of Budapest’s eighth district. After the end of the state socialist regime in Hungary, the area was privatised as shared property on one cadaster title owned by a number of separate entities. The industrial production on the site has mostly stopped, and has been replaced by trade and storage functions. Therefore the Ganz site is not strongly integrated into the everyday life of the city, and is somewhat of an independent ecosystem. Because of the unusual ownership structure, the development of the area is neglected by both public figures and the municipality.
A valuable feature of alternative, non-profit real estate development is its flexible adaptability to the specific characteristics of certain areas, compared to conventional profit-based models. The Ganz site is situated in a dynamically developing area of Budapest and the operation of Kazán Community House has shown that the site can be a perfect environment for solidarity-based initiatives. This is why ACRED is paying particular attention to properties located on the Ganz site, and besides other factors these were the features that called the GANZ 82 project to life.
New European Bauhaus Prize winning project
The project plan submitted by the name of „Cooperative Ownership for Communities ” was awarded with a New European Bauhaus Prize by the European Commission. The prize aims to honour projects or project ideas that combine the values of inclusivity, sustainability and beauty.
Erasmus Project
Since January 2024, ACRED has been working on the implementation of the project "Developing learning materials for prospective residents of community-led affordable housing projects" in cooperation with Ko gradi grad from Serbia as part of the Erasmus+ KA210-ADU Small-scale Partnership project. The aim of the ENABLERS4HOUSING small-scale partnership project is to develop new learning materials for individuals or groups who wish to initiate or participate in community-led affordable housing projects. The initiative seeks to respond to the current housing and energy crisis, which has a particularly significant impact on countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Our goal is to organize and consolidate the knowledge and experience accumulated by the two partner organizations over the years, and then, building on this, to jointly create a variety of teaching materials that will help us support the development of grassroots housing projects in Hungary as well.
As part of the project, ACRED has developed a learning material, which is currently being finalized with the help of a volunteer, mixed-composition study group. The 10 modules of the teaching material are:
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Module: Recruitment and group rules
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Module: Organizational functioning and decision-making
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Module: Non-profit real estate development in Hungary - theory and practice
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Module: Real estate search methodology
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Module: Financial planning
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Module: Community planning
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Module: Legal planning
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Module: Community renovation
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Module: Community operation
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Module: Community maintenance
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Pictures from the project:
MOBA Housing SCE
MOBA Housing SCE (European Cooperative Society) opens a new possibility of housing for a wide range of people who currently cannot afford to buy an apartment, but would join in a more affordable approach to it. For example: young people who want to become independent, people without a permanent job, people with average or lower income, as well as those who are looking for a community in which they could live differently. MOBA now breaks ground with a novel cooperative approach in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
ACRED is part of MOBA Network since its foundation.
