Co-operty is making the pathway to home ownership easier and more affordable for all Australians through co-ownership
Co-operty is a pioneering company that is helping all Australians to own property sooner through co-ownership.
Based in Sydney, the new proptech venture has been founded by seasoned finance industry leaders Lynda Coker and Liz Rochaix, whose professional backgrounds include senior positions within banking, non-bank lending, consulting and innovation.
“With Australia in the grips of a housing crisis, we believe co-ownership is a solution to the immense challenges faced by first home buyers in getting onto the property ladder,” Lynda Coker, Co-Founder & CEO of Co-operty, said.
“Additionally, we want to help the Bank of Mum & Dad operate in a better way that does not require them to put the family home at risk or raid their retirement savings,” Coker added.
Co-ownership is a way to own property using the well-established tenants-in-common form of registration where all parties’ names are on the legal title with their percentage ownership.
“Co-ownership is a great option for extended families and can support different living arrangements such as upstairs/downstairs, duplexes and granny flats,” Coker said.
Tenancy-in-common can be used by owner-occupiers or investors and has some key differences from joint tenancy. With a tenancy-in-common, the co-tenants can own different proportions of the property, which they can individually resell or leave as an inheritance, so there is greater flexibility and more control.
“To make everyone’s legal and financial rights clear, co-owners should draw up a contractual co-ownership agreement so everyone understands how the property will be occupied and managed, and what’s the exit plan,” Liz Rochaix, Co-Founder & COO of Co-operty, said.
“Our online platform takes the complexity out of these arrangements by supporting each buyer through the process. We have the necessary digital documents, including the Co-ownership Agreement, as well as a network of trusted conveyancing partners and mortgage brokers, who have the right expertise for co-buying, co-borrowing and co-owning scenarios,” Rochaix said.
The Co-operty app will go live in beta testing early next year with an initial focus on intra-family co-ownership and younger cohorts of friends and flatmates wishing to move from co-renting to co-owning.
