Journey to a CHI home

Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI) works with Local Authorities in meeting the housing needs of people who are on low incomes and eligible for public and social housing. In the future we will provide housing to others as we have in the past. If you would like to learn more about CHI’s previous roles in supporting communities to meet their housing needs, Read our timeline.

Do you meet the criteria to access homes provided by Co-operative Housing Ireland?

To access homes provided by CHI you must be on your Local Authority housing waiting list. To find out if you are eligible to do so, you should contact your Local Authority. The key factor that determines this is your household income (see here for bands).You can also access the full application form here.  

Maximum incomes – here are examples of maximum income thresholds for Cork City, Dublin City, Galway City, Fingal, Kildare, Wicklow Local Authorities. In many local authorities income thresholds are considerably less.

  • Single person – €35,000 net (approximately €46,000 gross salary)

  • One adult, one child – €35,875 net (approximately €47,500 gross)

  • Two adults, three children – €39,375 net (approximately €55,000 gross)

If these thresholds apply to you, you can learn more about how we work with local authorities to meet housing needs here.

So you want to set up a housing co-operative?

For a period in the 1970s and 1980s local authorities made land available for home-ownership building co-operatives. Some 3,000 homes were built in various parts of the country in projects generally comprising 10 to 60 houses.

Today, it is considerably more difficult for homes to be built through co-operative efforts. The major challenges include land and finances.

Co-operative Housing Ireland is limited in the assistance it can give to individuals and groups. However, we would like to hear from you as we use this information in our advocacy work. Please email communications@cooperativehousing.ie and let us know.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

If you would like more information on setting up a co-operative, download our handy guide below: