Max Construction Housing Cooperative Society Ltd is to unite and ignite the passion of her members in the collective pursuit of realizing the dream of home ownership. To promote the self-help housing movement and help our members get the legal and financial supports they need for success. We serve our members by providing a forum where they can pool their resources. We hold education and training events for the sharing of best practices in cooperative housing.
Mandate
In the pursuit of our vision and mission we will:
- • Monitor our cooperative achievements in providing secure, affordable housing in different regions of the country;
- • Continue building a network and database of people and that thrives on referrals
- • Develop a strategy for disseminating information about our cooperative and facilitating dialogue within it;
- • Take steps to make membership accessible and attractive;
- • Identify best practices in our members’ local and international, develop programmes and promote their wider adoption;
- • Seek opportunities for joint estate development;
- • Organize one or more thematic seminars or conferences for members each year;
- • Seek appropriate support for cooperative housing development from international donor organizations;
- • Cooperate with other regional and international bodies whose mandate is to promote sustainable human settlements;
- • Test our members’ satisfaction regularly and change our working methods as needed to earn our members’ continuing loyalty;
- • Ask our members to meet their financial commitments to Cooperative Housing International.
OUR VISION
Making cooperative and mutual self-help housing the preferred with its unlimited potential and practical achievement in providing secure, affordable shelter controlled by those who call it home.
OUR MISSION
Is to unite, represent, promotes and lead the movement for cooperative, mutual self-help, and community-led housing.
Benefits of membership
• Protection and security from land grabbers, volatile economic and political situations
• 12months to build up 30% – 50% equity contribution (your down payments on a home) and take possession while you pay up over 3yrs -5yrs
• Access to mortgage financing (NHF inclusive)
• One digit interest Loans (Cooperative housing loans)
• Skill acquisition and business training programmes
• Residual income for membership referrals
• Member registration incentives
• Member home improvement incentives
• Discount benefits from purchases in Coop Store nationwide
• Medical and health insurance benefits
• Vacation and tourism incentives
Membership categories
| CLASS | Discount voucher for purchase in Max Coop stores | Registration gift | Referral commission | Medicals |
| PATINUM ELITE | 7.5% | Branded T-shirts | 5% level 1 & 2% level 2 | Annual check-up |
| GOLD | 5% | Branded T-shirts | 5% level 1 & 2% level 2 | Annual check-up |
| SILVER | 3.5% | Branded T-shirts | 5% level 1 & 2% level 2 | Annual check-up |
| BRONZE | 3.5% | Branded T-shirts | 5% level 1 & 2% level 2 | Annual check-up |
Definition
A housing cooperative is a legal association formed for the purpose of providing housing to its members on a continuing basis. It is owned and controlled by its members. A cooperative is distinguished from other housing associations by its ownership structure and its commitment to cooperative principles.
Values
Housing cooperatives exist for their members’ mutual benefit. They share with other cooperatives the values of individual responsibility, mutual help, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. They should conduct themselves honestly and openly.
Principles
Open and Voluntary Membership
Cooperative housing should be open to all who can make use of the services provided and are willing and able to accept the responsibilities of membership. Accessibility should be encouraged through the active promotion of membership in housing cooperatives to the full community.
Member recruitment practices should be free of intentional or inadvertent discrimination by reason of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, national or social origin, age, family status, birth or disability. A housing cooperative may provide accommodation on a preferential basis as part of a special programme designed to relieve hardship or economic disadvantage of persons or groups so that they may enjoy equal opportunity.
Housing cooperatives should work to remove any physical, procedural or other barriers that would limit accessibility and prevent the fair and adequate treatment of all.
We are committed to including people with special needs in our movement. The design of our buildings and the organization of our cooperatives should encourage their occupancy, participation and full social integration.
People must be free to decide voluntarily whether or not cooperative housing responds to their needs. No one should be coerced into joining a cooperative and members should be free to withdraw from occupancy with reasonable notice.
Democratic Control by Members
Ownership of a housing cooperative should rest with those who use its services. Non-member households should be limited.
Members of housing cooperatives should have equal voting rights. Membership should be distributed in a manner that encourages equal participation in the cooperative.
Democratic control of housing cooperatives is enhanced by the full sharing of information and the provision of equal opportunities for involvement.
Control of associations of housing cooperatives should be exercised on a democratic basis, as determined by the members of the organization.
Members’ Economic Participation
Members should contribute fairly to the capital of their housing cooperative and share fairly in the results of its operation. The cooperative should allocate surpluses in such a way that no member gains inappropriately at the expense of another. A portion of the cooperative’s capital should be devoted to furthering the cooperative’s long-term aims. Surpluses may be used for this or any of the following purposes:
1. developing the business of the cooperative;
2. providing and improving member services;
3. rewarding members in proportion to their use of the cooperative;
4. supporting further development of the cooperative movement
Autonomy and Independence
Housing cooperatives are independent organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with governments or other organizations, they should do so freely, and on terms that respect their autonomy.
Education, Training and Information
Housing cooperatives should provide their members and employees with education to help them meet their responsibilities, deepen their commitment and to develop the cooperative. Housing cooperatives should seek ways of informing young people, opinion leaders and the public of the benefits of cooperation.
Cooperation among Cooperatives
Solidarity and unity within the cooperative housing movement are promoted through the federation of housing cooperatives in organizations from the local to the international level.
Housing cooperatives practise inter-sectoral cooperation through business and membership links with other types of cooperatives and by lending assistance to cooperative development efforts home and abroad.
Housing cooperatives should strive to meet their members’ needs for affordable, good quality housing, for the security of tenure, and for safe, secure neighbourhoods. They should provide the best quality service at a fair price. They should work to create environments where members give and receive support beyond their shelter needs and treat each other with respect and tolerance.
While existing for the purpose of meeting their members’ needs, housing cooperatives are part of a larger community and have a responsibility to future generations.
They should:
• demonstrate the principles of sustainable human settlements in the design, construction and operation of their buildings;
• contribute to improving the quality of life in their immediate neighbourhood;
• treat their employees fairly and with respect;
• uphold principles of social justice in all their affairs;
• manage their resources wisely over time so that future generations may continue to enjoy the benefit of the housing cooperative’s services; seek the growth of the cooperative housing in their own countries and abroad