There is a consensus among scholars and policy makers that durable peace after violent conflicts is contingent upon addressing affected communities’ livelihood needs and, in particular, housing. Post-conflict reconstruction is challenging, but at the same time an opportunity to address pre-existing housing deficits. In this Update, we present the ongoing endeavours of a community of former combatants to establish a mutual aid housing cooperative in Colombia following the peace agreement of 2016 and their efforts to attain affordable and adequate housing in a context characterised by a fragile peace process and unfavourable housing policies. We focus here on the interlinkages between micro-level visions, aspirations and strategies of the communities involved in the establishment of housing cooperatives and macro-level political and institutional factors enabling or constraining their emergence in post-conflict Colombia. Attention is drawn to opportunities to contest existing housing systems and to advocate for other forms of housing.