Yes. Of course, it’s always a shame when people decide to leave the group, but the GoMokry* project is designed to be long-term, and individuals’ goals, wishes, and perspectives change over time. Sometimes these can be incorporated into the project and shape it; sometimes they cannot. That’s why all residents receive their own lease. This means not only that we all naturally enjoy the tenant protections enshrined in law, but also that people can move out and others can move in.

For decades, the Mietshäuser Syndikat has successfully supported the planning and implementation of housing projects throughout Germany. This has allowed us to draw on a wealth of expertise and support, particularly during the often complex initial phase of a project. In addition, the legal structure of the syndicate model ensures that the project is permanently protected against reprivatization.

To protect the project against lost rent payments, we have provided for two options. First, we base our financial planning on a rent loss risk of 3 percent. This figure is fairly generous given the realities of the commercial real estate sector, where a rate of just 2 percent is often assumed. This 3% of the base rent is allocated to a buffer fund that can be used to cover any missed rent payments. Additionally, it’s important to note that a housing project becomes a project precisely because we see ourselves as a community based on solidarity. This also means providing concrete support during financial difficulties faced by individuals through cross-subsidization or bridge financing provided by the group. We view housing as a fundamental right and do not want to evict anyone from their home for financial reasons!

Experience from other housing projects shows that conflict within the group is indeed one of the greatest risks.

As a general rule, we make decisions as a group by mutual agreement. This means that issues are discussed until a (at least minimal) consensus is reached. In addition to a solution-oriented approach from everyone involved, this sometimes requires a great deal of patience.

If no solution at all can be found for a dispute, there is—as a last resort—the option for individual residents to decide to leave the project, since they each have an individual lease with Hausbesitz GmbH that they can terminate if necessary.

Mokry brings together many different people with different needs. That’s why there are such a wide variety of living arrangements. In addition to more traditional shared-apartment setups, there are also apartments for individuals and small families. There is also a floor reserved exclusively for FLINTA*s (women, lesbians, inter, non-binary, trans, and agender people, and * all people who do not identify with the terms listed above and are not cis-male) and a functional shared apartment where rooms are assigned not to individual people but to specific functions.

We see ourselves as one big community. That’s why it can happen from time to time that changes in individual residents’ circumstances or needs cause the entire building to undergo changes, and we have to restructure the living units.