Co-Opain مفتاحك عنّا

Co-opain is an NGO concerned with the housing crisis in Lebanon. Our main focus is to create a healthy and strong housing cooperative sector.
Co-opain is supposed to be the major motivator, educator and match maker that lead people into participating in Coops.
 
What is a housing cooperative?
A housing cooperative is a “Non for profit” residential project. It is built by its own future residents, not by developers from the private sector.
The beneficiaries are not building the project for resale at profit as it is forbidden by the law. They are only building for the purpose of occupying the apartments themselves as a primary residence. 
They don’t seek profit; they only aim to ameliorate their well-being in a decent way.
Partnership does not make them entrepreneurs but holders of their own destiny.
A housing coop is a moral person that benefits from multiple fiscal exemptions.
Coops are pillars to create & sustain development. In developed countries, coops constitutes 60 % of the housing sector. In Lebanon it’s almost 0 % and has no effect on the economy.
 
Why housing cooperatives?
Building at cost price with many fiscal exemptions reduces the price by 50 %. The benefits of creating a strong housing cooperative sector are as follows:

Expatriates would have more stimuli to come back and settle in Lebanon
All workers and labor will be Lebanese which will boost employment and revenue creation for poor families
People with limited income (1000$ to 2000$) could afford buying an apartment using this scheme
People with higher income (2000$ to 4500$) would save up to 100 000 $ over 30 years which will be spent on other sectors such as clothing, education, health, entertainment….. and this will boost the economy
The construction materials suppliers will benefit too since that will create more business for them
Reduction in delinquency and family troubles
Decentralization of housing (since at some villages and peripheral regions the cost will be ridiculously low that people will prefer to settle there).

 
Why coops need CO-OPAIN?
Regular people are not experts regarding construction, finances, and the law. They don’t know how to manage a construction project on their own. There is no organization in the civil society that deals with this sector in Lebanon. We took this duty and we do all the followings:

Match making between beneficiaries
Searching and finding good lands
Feasibility study and permit file
Explanation of the “Nizam” and housing coops law
Help them get financial approvals
Follow up for the entire project until finished
Legal expertise (lawyer)
Audit and cash flow monitoring (auditor)
Hiring professional construction managers to handle the costing, drawings and execution of the project