Mutual Housing

A Mutual Housing Association (MHA) is a form of partnership in which a nonprofit develops and owns affordable housing. MHAs are membership associations, and may include residents, supporting corporations and other community groups or institutions.

Members pay a fee, which grants them full participation in the association’s activities: home ownership workshops, financial counseling, community support groups (senior, youth, etc.) and community celebrations, just to name a few. MHA members may or may not live on the premises. For resident-members, the fee for occupancy is considerably higher. Management of these properties is governed by a board of directors, which is voted on by the residential and non-residential MHA members.

• Integrated: The MHA develops, owns and manages the properties on its lands. To occupy a unit, residents sign a lease for rights to the space. Although residents cannot access the equity in the property, they do have access to MHA benefits and activities. 

• Federated Mutual Housing: The MHA is formed when several independent cooperatives partner up to create a support network or community. As in the Intergrated model, members have access to MHA activities and benefits.
  

Most resources and examples of mutual housing organizations can be found with the information on cooperatives in the resource section of this chapter.

The now defunct Chicago Mutual Housing Network (CMH) was an example of a mutual housing association.