Unfortunately, in the history of self-managed housing projects, there have always been cases in which a group has put a lot of work, time and money into building a project and then years later – whether due to a dispute, declining interest or a change in the circumstances of those involved – the house was sold again by a few people or even individuals, often at significantly higher prices. It would therefore be more of a risk factor for the goal of putting the project on a sustainable footing and providing the respective residents with a permanently favourable rent level if ownership were to remain exclusively with the housing association. We therefore want to anchor the structural separation of House Ownership GmbH with the participation of the Mietshäuser Syndikat from the current residents in the legal form of our sponsoring company.

No. The syndicate model includes a minority holding by the Mietshäuser Syndikat with a right of veto against the sale of the building as well as against a conversion that would no longer have the character of a project. However, this is not a disadvantage, but a guarantee that the project will continue to exist even if a more economically lucrative utilisation of the buildings as private property would be possible.

Yes, of course it’s always a shame when people decide to leave the group, but the GoMokry* project is set up for the long term and the goals, wishes and perspectives of individual people change. Sometimes these can flow into the project and change it, sometimes not. That’s why all residents have their own tenancy agreement. This not only means that we all enjoy statutory tenant protection, but also that people can move out and others can move in.

The Mietshäuser Syndikat has been successfully supporting the planning and realisation of residential projects throughout Germany for decades. This has enabled us to draw on a great deal of expertise and support, particularly during the often complex start-up phase of the project. In addition, the legal structure of the syndicate model ensures that the project is permanently protected against re-privatisation.

We have provided two options to protect the project against rental payment defaults. On the one hand, we have based our financial planning on a rent default risk of 3%. This is a figure that is rather generously based on the situation in the commercial property sector, where often only 2% is assumed. This 3% of the basic rent flows into a buffer that can be used to compensate for unpaid rent. In addition, the fact that a house project becomes a project precisely because we see ourselves as a community of solidarity also comes into play here. This also means concrete support in the event of financial bottlenecks for individuals through cross-financing or interim financing by the group. We see housing as a basic right and do not want to put anyone out on the street for financial reasons!

The experience of other house projects shows that disputes within the group are actually one of the biggest risks.

In principle, we make decisions in the group by mutual agreement. This means that topics are discussed until an (at least minimal) consensus is reached. In addition to the solution-orientation of all those involved, this sometimes also requires a great deal of patience.

If no solution at all can be found to a dispute, there is – as a last resort – the possibility that individual residents can decide to leave the project because they each have an individual tenancy agreement with Hausbesitz GmbH, which they can also terminate if necessary.

Many different people with different needs come together at Mokry. That’s why there are so many different types of accommodation. In addition to more traditional shared flats, there are also flats for single people and small families. There is also a floor just for FLINTA*s (female, lesbians, inter, non-binary, trans and a-gender people and * everybody who does not feel represented within those categories but doesn’t define as cis-male) and a functional shared flat in which the rooms are not assigned to individual people but to specific functions.

We see ourselves as a large community. This is why it can always happen that changes in life circumstances or the needs of individuals lead to the whole house changing and we have to reorganise the residential units.