Inanna's House
Inanna’s House is a woman managed housing co-operative based in Hilton, Fremantle. Inanna’s House began in 1992, when a group of women met in a local coffee shop to discuss their vision of providing secure, low-cost housing for women.
SNAPSHOT
Location: Hilton, Western Australia
Date established: 1998
Number of dwellings: 9
Land area: 4,051 square metres
Number of residents: 15
Demographics: Inter-generational
Shared facilities: Gardens and office
Why is it called Inanna's House?
Inanna’s House was named after Inanna, the ancient Sumerian goddess of love, beauty, sex, desire, fertility, war, combat, justice, and political power.
The following quote by Inanna symbolises the objectives of Inanna’s House:
Me the woman he has filled with dismay
Has filled me, queen of heaven with consternation
I, the woman who circles the land –
tell me, where is my house
Tell me where is the city in which I may live
I who am your daughter...the hierodule,
who am your bridesmaid -
tell me, where is my house
The bird has its nesting place, but I -
my resting place exists not
The dog lies at the threshold, but I –
I have no threshold.
Objectives
- To provide safe and secure Housing for women and their children, and to meet their special needs in relation to their welfare and further education. ( Refer to Section 31 Equal Opportunities Act, 1984,)
- To provide accommodation to low income members of Inanna's House -a non-profit collective.
- Actively create a feminist space - to have a supportive space for women, in particular, to explore their spiritual, economical, mental, physical, emotional, and other needs.
- To create an ecologically compatable living space and to develop an environmental consciousness amongst the members of the collective.
- To promote the principles of co-operation:
- Co-operatives are democratic, non-discriminatory, non-profit organisations.
- Co-operatives make provision for education of their members and the wider community in the information, principles and skills of co-operation - both democratic and economic.
- Co-operatives actively co-operate with other co-operative organisations on a local, national and international level.
- Co-operatives are committed to their own development; that is, to the development of a community that co-operates in various ways.
- Co-operatives are committed to open communication and conflict resolution.
- To establish a Housing Collective for the purpose of providing long term and affordable accommodation for low income earners under an agreement which excludes the right to sub-let unless first approved by the Collective Members.
History
Inanna’s House began in 1992, when a group of women met in a local coffee shop to discuss their vision of providing secure, low-cost housing for women.
Inanna’s House was made possible by a $245,000 Federal Government grant to purchase land and to complete design work for nine rental homes and a $628,000 grant from the State Government for construction. The collective purchased three existing houses that the group lovingly restored, and the remaining six are purpose-built rammed-limestone homes.
WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL?
Inanna’s House is a woman managed housing co-operative. Whilst men are allowed to live there they cannot hold the leases to any of the properties so that in the event of a relationship breakdown it is not the women who are displaced.
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