What is 'affordable'- stage 1: brainstorm and definition

Good question: Affordable to me means what any individual can afford. Within the CoHOP realm that might mean purchasing $20,000 worth of shares or purchasing $500,000 worth of shares or if one has no capital it might mean purchasing incrementally shares each week.

this means that the person coming with no capital will start building up their contributions by purchasing shares or putting in sweat equity (adding value) equal to shares on a regular basis.

The reciprocity principal of giving as well as receiving is a large part of what I think CoHOP is about.

briefly: The CoHOP Cohousing is affordable in that the CoHOP will purchase/build the homes and members/residents of the CoHOP will be offered a secure home to live in for as long as they wish. While individuals won't personally own their own home they will own shares in the CoHOP company and will be co-owners in all the land and buildings that CoHOP owns. This means they have a stake in the upkeep and development of the home and community they live in. Non resident investors will have a safe secure investment in real assets within NZ. by way of share ownership and will be able to either secure a sustainable future for their family members or purchase and sell their shares without the normal costs of broker fees etc. Investment finances won't be going off shore through banks, and investors like residents will make up the board of directors of the CoHOP Ltd with decision making rights.

So much more to say but not enough room. We will have our website up soon where the CoHOP system will be more fully explained.

Thanks for your thoughts Pamela.
I have just updated/edited my original question to make it more specific. So, to be as specific as I really can be (and my appologies for using some traditional market terminology, just the clearest way to describe, sorry) what I am really looking for in my second question is tips, skills, knowledge, and personal preferences of methods to use that influence (downwards), the square meter price of the eventual building. I am looking ahead to the design and implementation stage of the land and building itself. Thanks

We have not yet completed our building senario's and have not yet got our building team together so we just have a collection of Idea's of possible savings at this stage.
idea's put forward by group
the Build;
costs: Architect, Engineer,
Prjct.Mngr, Builder, Elec, Plumber
(payment in $ or Shares or both)
Woofers labour as required
Resident Labour x 2hrs pw person
Distant Resid labour x 4 weeks py
Land:

Affordable means to me that you don't have to go into debt to achieve it. You know, the concept of "buying" a house is a fairly new concept, given the full history of mankind. I'm thinking back to a time when a young couple would be provided an allotment by the community who would then assist them to cut trees, make bricks, etc so that they could build their house. There are a couple housing cooperatives close to where I live that are a bit similar, except you do have to pay to be part of the cooperative ($2000 in one case, not sure about the other) after a VERY lengthy joining process. Then you're allocated a site and you can log the timber to build your house. These communities have also raised funds and built their own community hall, and one even built their own school.

To make housing affordable in today's world? Fundraise, provide your own labour, reuse and recycle materials, work with the council, build very small homes, use local materials, build in a modular fashion so you can start very small and expand as you can afford it, use community labour and provide that labour yourself to the community, provide common facilities.

Brilliant Jo, food for thought. By the way can you spread any light on the joining process??

The joining process seems to be different for all the 50+ multiple occupancy properties around here. The 2 coops I mentioned have requirements for you to be part of the community (for 2 years in one case, not sure about the other), satisfy a work requirement and attend a certain number of meetings and social events...and then what happens depends on the community. In one of them, you have to be nominated by 2 or 3 other members. I think in the other they may hold a vote.

Hi I have enjoyed reading the above ideas, well done.
Affordable to me means: not borrowing money from a bank etc, easy to maintain, cost effective.
To make housing affordable: recycle building materials, pool building skills, learn to build, working bee,
using cosh system, apply for community grants, use quality building materials at wholesale prices.
regards Linda

Thanks for all you comments. Here is Koanga Institute's take on "affordability" - a community land trust: http://kotarevillage.org.nz/kotare-community-land-trust/ It's about community values, sharing land and resources, helping each other to build, using natural, local materials, etc. CoHOP applies these principles to finance as well, so "affordable" becomes "what one can afford".

Here's an interesting article from "Gold Survival Guide", a very mainstream finance organisation:
Here’s another similarity we share with our trans tasman brethren (Australia) - our banking system.

This is an interesting angle on why the German economy remains so robust when the rest of Europe has been struggling for years. It’s about how they “allocate their credit”...

“--The key to Germany’s success is not bratwurst but banking. The German model is the polar opposite of the one we have here in Australia.

--For example, only 13% of the banks in Germany are large, nationwide banks. The majority of the banking system, around 70%, is in the hands of locally controlled, small banks. They lend mostly to productive small and medium sized businesses. This is the type of credit that leads to real GDP growth, and higher wages. It’s also why German unemployment is so low.

--By law most of those local banks must lend to their local area. That means the health of their community is tied to their performance. And they don’t lend for speculation in asset prices.

--It makes for a much more productive economy. And a much safer, decentralised banking system. Because unproductive credit creation (such as financial credit like mortgages and margin loans) is linked to asset inflation, bubbles and banking crisis.

--Now compare the German system to what we have here in Australia with the ‘Big Four’ banks owning most of the banking assets of the country and financing mostly property speculation. Then the priests at the RBA go through the ritual, waiting for the Nile to rise.

--Oh wait! It’s all going to be ok anyway. The High Temple at the Bank of International Settlements is going to make Australian banks raise their capital levels and make them ‘unquestionably strong’.

--But…but…where’s the evidence for that working again? Oh, that’s right. Same as above. There isn’t any.
Source.

Australia Set to Launch a Tax on Savings

We do spend a bit of time keeping an eye on Australia as historically our fortunes are tied.

We’ve been hearing news over the past 2 months that they are set to launch a “Compulsory Tax on Money Itself” - as Martin Armstrong puts it - in their upcoming budget.

Armstrong reckons this is a “trial balloon for the global economy” and should ring alarms bells for us all.

“This decision to put a tax on savings would seriously harm the government, and if there are any smart Australians, it should be a race to get the hell out of the banks. The banks should see a massive withdraw. Take your money and buy tangible assets, even gold, but you just cannot store it in a bank.”

CoHOP would be a great place to put all that money that's about to be stolen (sorry, taxed) out of your bank account!