The longue durée history of housing cooperativism in Hungary

The article investigates what forms housing cooperativism has taken in Hungary since the end of the nineteenth century and how these forms have changed over time. Four historical periods are analyzed through three aspects: the place and function of housing cooperativism within the respective housing system, the relation between housing cooperatives and the state, and the social composition of the beneficiaries of housing cooperatives. The main findings show that publicly subsidized funding schemes have had a pivotal role in housing cooperativism, that state regulations (or the lack of them) and the ideologies of the state are mirrored in the specific forms of housing cooperativism in different eras, and that, in the case of Hungary, it has typically been the middle segments of society who became members of housing cooperatives. The findings contribute to understanding cooperative housing tenure: they highlight that housing cooperativism can cover a wide range of activities that are not necessarily progressive.