NETCO Network of Cities for Collaborative Housing - 2023-2024 Peer Exchanges Policy Recommendations

This report, “NETCO Network of Cities for Collaborative Housing – 2023–2024 Peer Exchanges Policy Recommendations”, is published by the Network of Cities for Collaborative Housing (NETCO) and authored by Pierre Arnold and Michael LaFond. It documents NETCO’s first phase of activity (Nov 2022–Apr 2024), a European peer-learning network initiated by the City of Barcelona and funded by the European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme (CERV). The network brings together municipal and regional actors, practitioners and civil society to exchange knowledge on collaborative housing models and to support cities that are developing policies and programmes.

NETCO positions itself as a platform for European local and regional governments to share expertise on collaborative housing, raise awareness, and cooperate with civil society and research institutions. The report lists partner cities and regions involved in the first phase, including (among others) Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels, Cluj-Napoca, Dresden, Eindhoven, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (Berlin), Ljubljana, Lyon, Navarra, Oslo, Strasbourg, Thessaloniki, Torino, and Zagreb. NETCO is described as open to additional member cities and regions.

The report frames collaborative housing as an umbrella term for resident-involved housing models that often depend on public support to deliver affordable homes. For NETCO, collaborative housing sits where public interest overlaps with community interest: partnerships between local government and resident groups or community housing developers to provide and manage affordable and sustainable housing. Basic requirements include shared common spaces, a resident organisation (association, cooperative or other legal form) for administration and coordination, and resident participation in decisions on housing costs, changes to the built environment, and admission criteria. “Advanced” requirements include affordability (including below-market costs or mixed social/market pricing), non-speculative land tenure or resale mechanisms for permanent affordability (e.g., Community Land Trusts, cooperatives, cohousing on public land), high resident involvement in design (cohousing), neighbourhood interaction through shared facilities or mixed uses, and social integration of vulnerable groups.

Based on a survey of partner cities, the report identifies several factors viewed as significantly shaping collaborative housing development: national or regional legal frameworks and funding schemes, political will from local decision-makers, and mobilisation of civil society. It also highlights the importance of private banks, noting that limited access to private loans for collective projects can block progress. The report discusses governance levels: planning strategy and municipal land allocation are emphasised locally and regionally; legal frameworks are primarily seen as national responsibilities; and funding is relevant at all levels, with particular emphasis on national and EU funding and EU-level policy guidance. Building technical knowledge and capacity among public servants is presented as important for implementation.

NETCO’s initial exchanges included field visits to Bologna (legal frameworks), Barcelona (sustainable innovation), Berlin (funding), and Brussels (inclusion). The report provides detailed project profiles illustrating diverse tenures, governance models, and sustainability approaches. Examples include Porto 15 (Bologna): 18 apartments in a retrofit public rental project for 18–35-year-olds, with rents reported at 290–390€ per month and income eligibility under 40,000€ annually, plus shared spaces and energy-efficiency renovation. In Barcelona, La Borda (28 homes) is a grant-to-use cooperative on public land leased for 75 years; residents reportedly contributed 18% of the budget (about 18,500€ per household), with 52% financed via Coop57 and the remainder from loans, grants and crowdfunding, alongside timber construction and passive design. Brussels case studies include CLT-based models such as CALICO (34 homes) and cooperative projects like Casa Viva (12 homes), which combines timber construction and renewable energy measures with social rental management.

Recommendations to cities emphasise long-term “common good” visions, identifying and addressing legal/administrative barriers, setting measurable collaborative housing objectives, training relevant professionals, financing process facilitation, using renewable long-term public land leases instead of sales, fostering collaboration to reduce competition in tenders, and facilitating access to loans via municipal instruments. Recommendations to the EU include guidelines for member states, visibility measures (calls, competitions, knowledge-sharing), co-funding pilot projects, and creating revolving funding facilities to support sustainable affordable housing. NETCO is described as flexible and non-bureaucratic, with roles for leading members, associate members, and partner organisations, and contact details are provided for interested participants.