With the Founding Assembly held in Zagreb, on the 29 February 2020, MOBA becomes a European Cooperative Society MOBA HOUSING (SCE), and the first SCE registered in Croatia!
For over two years, the MOBA pioneers have set out to address structural limitations that block the development of collective affordable housing solutions by building a common platform in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe (CSEE). Our aim is to attract, channel and manage affordable and fair financing for – construction, purchase and repurposing of buildings – of a new generation of rental, non-speculative housing cooperatives.
To take up this role, MOBA now becomes a European Cooperative Society (SCE), with the capacity to act as an intermediary between larger financial actors interested in social investment and cooperatives on the ground – thus empowering the upscaling of housing cooperatives in CSEE. To set up the framework for such an institution, as well as provide a part of the obligatory seed capital necessary to establish it as a legal entity, MOBA received the FundAction Renew grant. FundAction is a participatory fund that supports social movements in Europe, working towards a transition to a just and equitable world.
The MOBA SCE aims to become a partner for established housing cooperative networks from other parts of Europe, enabling international peer-to-peer solidarity in the domain of housing. The first step in this is through collaboration with ABZ (Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich), Switzerland’s biggest housing cooperative with 7,785 members.
What is an SCE?
The European Cooperative Society (SCE) provides a legal form for a transnational cooperative, existing in the European Union since 2003 its potential has not been much explored so far. SCE’s aim to facilitate cross-border activities amongst their members. An SCE needs to be registered in an EU country – but can include members from non-EU countries. The minimum capital requirement to set up an SCE is 30,000 Euro.
The decision for MOBA to register as an SCE was taken with the aim to formalise the loose network that existed since 2017 and to provide a legal entity through which its members can pool their resources, share their expertise and access the services and financial resources necessary for the development of housing models on a regional basis. MOBA Housing SCE is registered in Pula, Croatia. The decision to register in Croatia has been based on the possibility for an SCE to formally be recognised as a non-profit organisation. In the case of MOBA, its surplus has to get reinvested in MOBA’s activities.
Our four founding members (Cooperants, according to the Statutes) – Pametnija Zgrada from Belgrade, Zadrugator for Ljubljana, Prvni vlaštovka from Prague and Otvorena Arhitektura from Zagreb – with support of donations from FundAction and the Swiss Housing Cooperative ABZ, have provided the required initial capital. Apart from full membership (Cooperants), MOBA will include associate members (in the Statutes formally referred to as Investors).
MOBA Housing SCE’s Statutes can be found at the following link.