A specific example of a community-led housing initiative is the Mietshäuser Syndikat (MHS), founded in Freiburg in 1992. Emerging from Germany’s squatter movement, it established a legal and financial framework to secure self-managed, affordable housing outside the speculative market. The model enables resident collectives to co-purchase buildings, while its legal structure ensures that once acquired, properties can never be resold on the private market and remain dedicated to housing in perpetuity.
Rents cover loan repayments and include small contributions to a solidarity fund, which supports the creation of new projects and sustains the syndicate itself. Today, the MHS connects nearly 170 houses and provides homes for around 4,500 people. Beyond housing, many member projects engage in local politics and advocacy, working to keep non-profit housing recognized within municipal strategies and public tenders.
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Beyond these nationally rooted networks, broader international collaborations have also emerged. The MOBA Housing Network (2017) connects projects across Central and Eastern Europe, pooling knowledge and solidarity funding. The Commoning Spaces Network (2018) brings together initiatives experimenting with collective ownership and management across borders. Together, these transnational alliances strengthen the community-led housing movement by sharing expertise, fostering financial solidarity, and developing adaptable legal models.
The scalability of such systems is crucial. As the MHS demonstrates, growing membership enhances stability, enables financial solidarity and knowledge exchange, and strengthens adaptive capacity. In this way, networks evolve into resilient, community-based alternatives to global market structures.
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