Why Cohousing ?
It works for people and it works for places – and it would work towards solving the housing crisis if the government invested in it.
What is Cohousing ?
Cohousing is an approach to creating a community, an ‘intentional community’: people living in a way that they themselves have created to embody their shared values. The key principles are:-
To create a balance between privacy and community
Designed to encourage social interaction
Residents are the decision makers and contribute to the overall design
Homes can be for sale or rent but must be affordable and not for profit
All buildings must be environmentally sustainable
In general a cohousing community will be made up of between 10 and 40 households; preferably multigenerational and including families and singletons. Other models do exist - such as women or older people only. Each household has their own accommodation, with their own front door, plus access to common areas such as a meeting room, kitchen, laundry, guest rooms, car sharing etc. Access to outside space is also essential for gardening / shared growing.
Cohousing is common in Europe, Scandinavia, the USA and Australia. At present there are a small but growing number of Cohousing communities across the UK, mainly in England. The UK housing sector is strongly polarised between a commercial developer-led private sector on the one hand and state-subsidised social provision on the other. Cohousing is an alternative option, a middle way, which is under represented and undervalued by most UK politicians – especially given the benefits it can provide
What are the benefits?
People living in a cohousing community benefit from reduced social isolation, and gain emotional and physical support from their neighbours
They share skills and learn from each other, this is especially important for single person households and those with children
Living in a Cohousing community can provide a richer experience for children and teenagers leading to improved social outcomes
Older people are more independent and autonomous, living longer, healthier lives
Residents often find they have more spare time for themselves due to the sharing of day to day chores, repairs and maintenance etc
People report being able to afford a bigger and more sustainable property, with more outside space, because their capital and overhead costs are shared
Cohousing is also beneficial to the wider community, often providing much needed neighbourhood amenities and facilities such as co-working spaces and meeting rooms. These communities reduce stress on Local Authority resources by increasing housing stock which is built to higher evironmental standards and reduces dependence on public services, especially health. Sharing cars also contributes to reduced pressure on roads and the environment. Cohousing communitities are more outward looking, helping to build their wider community by ‘reaching out’ and by increasing involvement in local campaigns and civic activities. Last but not least, Cohousing employs specific legal structures which protect the affordability of its properties in perpetuity.
Why isn’t it more common / what are the challenges ?
The main barriers to the development of Cohousing are land and money. The optimum land requirement is 1 – 2 acres; this might be a feasible purchase in rural areas but is nigh impossible in the cities, where most land is swiftly gobbled up by developers, usually in collusion with local authorities. Renovation of large redundant properties is also an opportunity for Cohousing. In Scotland, recent changes in the law mean that land and property can sometimes be bought through a ‘Community Asset Transfer’ but in practice this is a long and difficult process and the provision of housing for individuals is often not eligible for support.
Many Cohousing projects are self funded with money being raised from individuals as well as a collective loan or mortgage. However, difficulties in raising ‘start up’ funds to pay for development costs such as feasibility studies, architect drawings, planning permission, conspire to prevent many groups from ever getting as far as applying for a loan or mortgage. The provision of housing for indivuals is not a charitable objective, so while small amounts of funding might be available for peripheral benefits such as community facilities, this is supplementary rather than core funding. Building Societies such as the Ecology, Banks such as Triodos and various crowd funding intiatives can all provide core finance for building Cohousing communities, but only once the groundwork has been laid and a viable business and delivery plan developed. This is where financial support from Government could have the most impact.
In terms of ongoing/delivery funding, a model developed by the ‘Lilac’ project in Leeds, which is becoming more common, is for a Mutual Home Ownership Society (MHOS) to be established. This is a legal structure for a Housing Cooperative and its rules have been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority. An ‘MHOS’ enables people to club together to buy or build homes that they might not otherwise be able to afford. Their properties are ‘asset locked’ thus providing a route to permanently affordable communities. A similar but two tier model has been developed in York where “Yorspace” was established as a Community Land Trust and secured grant funding (no longer available) towards a deposit for land purchase. A Mutual Home Ownership Society (co-op) was then established to fund and build the homes.
What can be done to encourage more Cohousing?
Central Government could do much more to encourage community led Cohousing developments, specifically with the provision of grant funding to assist with the development phase. Housing departments across the country should be resourced to offer information, advice and financial support to nascent Cohousing groups. Maybe a ‘Cohousing Conference’ would be a good place to start?
Supporting information
- The UK Cohousing Network has a useful website with details of both established and developing cohousing projects in England
https://cohousing.org.uk/
Two particularly interesting articles they have published include:
https://cohousing.org.uk/news/cohousing-and-public-benefit/
https://cohousing.org.uk/case-study/partnership-route-cohousing/
- the first successful Cohousing Community was established in Stroud in the early 2000s, funded solely with residents’ own money
https://www.therightplace.net/coco/public/
- another of the earliest examples was the Older Womens cohousing initiative in London (now called New Ground)
https://www.communityledhousing.london/project/older-womens-co-housing/
https://newgroundcohousing.uk/
- one of the best known cohousing communities in England is ‘Lilac’ – especially as they are responsible for developing the ‘Mutual Home Ownership’ model for shared ownership / purchase
http://www.lilac.coop/our-story-2/
- similarly Yorspace, has developed a new model – fortunate to benefit from some grant funding and support from their local council.
https://yorspace.org/
https://yorspace.org/uploads/Yorspace-A4.pdf
- finally, Cohousing Scotland, is a newly formed lobbying and support group for Cohousing groups north of the border
https://www.cohousing.scot/