Focus on: Virgen del Carmen del Quinto Patio Housing Association (Social Production of Habitat Award 2016)

Every week, the CoHabitat Network introduces you to a collaborative housing project documented on the cohabitat.io database.

"We are a small organization whose dream was to form a housing cooperative for mutual help" said Margarita Monforte, president of the association that occupied a quinta (tenement house) in Barrios Altos (Historic Center of Lima).

The organization dates back to the 1980s and grew up around religious festivities, a soccer team and the struggle for fair rent. Later on, the programs Mejoramiento de Barrios y Pueblos (in public spaces), Mejorando Mi Quinta (in housing complexes) and Ya soy propietario (access to properties belonging to Beneficencia Pública) were implemented to improve the Quinta and its surroundings.

However, in 2011 they were informed " in fine print" that the electric train was going to pass through their neighborhood.

Out of the 380 families that would be affected, the 42 families of the association were the only ones to claim their rights. Because of their prior knowledge of forced evictions against megaprojects and the organization's resistance, they succeeded in being relocated to a property near the Quinta, which was demolished. Finally, with the support of the Centro de Investigación, Documentación y Asesoría Poblacional (CIDAP), they built a condominium under self-administration.

▶ More information on cohabitat.io

The Quinta Virgen del Carmen del Quinto Patio Association won the Social Production of Habitat Award - Latin America in 2016.