Tenant Cooperatives, Shareholders’ Housing Companies

Abstract

This article concerns forms of housing tenure that exist in two neighbouring Nordic countries, Finland and Sweden. Both housing company owner-occupation in Finland and tenant-ownership in Sweden are forms of multifamily housing. Shareholders’ housing companies are joint-stock companies that own and manage housing. The shareholders gain tenure rights through the ownership of shares in the company. The resident holds power over the individual dwelling, whereas shared spaces and facilities are managed by the company collectively. Tenant-ownership in Sweden operates in much the same way. The organisational form is, however, different, as it represents one form of cooperative housing. In tenant-ownership, the residents’ tenure rights are based on their memberships in the cooperative association. Swedish tenant-ownership represents an equity cooperative. Residents have a right to trade their ownership rights in the market. Tenant-ownership thus resembles housing company owner-occupation quite a lot, as shareholders have a right to sell their shares freely in the market. This has not always been so. Up to the end of the 1960s, tenant-ownership was a price-regulated housing sector: ‘speculation’ on tenant-ownership rights was not possible. Since then the two forms of tenure have converged: it is no wonder that outsiders sometimes confuse them with one another.