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Co-living: a threat or opportunity for cohousing?
A blog from UKCN Chair Stephen Hill
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Just recently, it’s been pretty hard to avoid reading about the wonders of co-living. Search for it once, and you’ll be deluged ever after with helpful suggestions to read stuff from the World Economic Forum, the Royal Society of Arts, the Money, Arts, City and Society pages of the Guardian, as well as the commercial offers from co-living developers…which is perhaps the key to why co-living features so high on such suggestion listings…there’s big money in it.
I decided to write this blog, as every article I read on co-living also talks about cohousing; sometimes helpfully distinguishing it from co-living, but mostly assuming that they are interchangeable terms with commonly shared benefits. I would really like to know if our cohousing communities feel this is an opportunity or a threat.
My point of view, which follows, is that of an urbanist and land economist thinking how those disciplines relate to the ‘sociable housing’ objectives of our Cohousing Principles. This is only one view. If you have another, please follow the link, and share your opinion.
Cohousing is action research about the future of urban living
Back in August, I wrote a polite but angry comment in response to this barely concealed commercial puff piece in Housing Today Co-living: the friendly future of UK housing? Shortly afterwards, the Guardian published a more thoughtful article contrasting the lived experience of OWCH and Marmalade Lane cohousing projects with living at The Collective in Willesden: 'Co-living': the end of urban loneliness – or cynical corporate dormitories? Good though this piece was, such analysis needs to go beyond contrasting co-living and cohousing. Whatever co-living is or isn’t, we do need to think afresh about how we will have to live in cities in the future.
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Option To Sign
After two years (it seemed like more) of negotiation, the Senior Cohousing project in Halton, near Lancaster, has come to an agreement with a land owner to take out an option agreement on a site with the intention of building a 20 unit scheme for over 55s. This will enable the group to move forward over the next six months when applying for planning permission and doing site surveys. The group has support from Lancaster City Council's Community Led Housing Fund and have been awarded £160,000 grant funding towards pre-development costs. All being well this will lead to purchase of the site in spring 2020. Anyone interested in the scheme should contact Kathy on: haltonseniorcohousing@gmail.com
We have our deposit for the land ready and hope to sign the option agreement soon.
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Here we are raising a glass to celebrate. Will this be our last cold, damp winter as we look forward to moving into PassivHaus houses at Halton Senior Cohousing before Christmas 2020?
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Progress update September 2019
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It’s shoes off inside the houses as the builders work towards handing the site back to us.
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Protective covering is being removed from our bamboo floors and oiled plywood stairs so that we can really think about moving in soon - and establishing our lives here.
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From the light and lovely interiors, generous doors and windows give access to balconies with views over what will become our communal vegetable patch or onto the Mill and its pond.
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Interested in joining us?
It’s always worth enquiring about membership of Cannock Mill, whether you’re interested in joining us soon or with an eye to the longer-term future. So if you’d like to know more, don’t hesitate to get in touch - contact details are on our website: http://cannockmillcohousingcolchester.co.uk/
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These are exciting times for 'Still Green'. We are working with TOWN, the company who delivered Marmalade Lane in Cambridge, on a bid for an attractive site for our cohousing project in Milton Keynes.
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To find out more email us at stillgreenweb@gmail.com and join us on Saturday 16 November for a shared lunch and Open Meeting in the afternoon in Milton Keynes.
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Opportunity to live at
Trelay Cohousing Community...
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... on a small farm, near the sea.
I am moving on from Trelay so Lamorna, my living space in a stone house plus its timber annex (possibly two living spaces, each one-bed) are becoming available. I am offering the sale of the equity for £130,000 + £90,000. This includes your share of a 32 acre small farm, the community rooms and barns, on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall. There are lots of conditions attached, because you would need to become part of the community, so please email me on jackie@trelay.org for more information.
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Founded over 12 years ago, Trelay has become a thriving cohousing community and I am very proud to have been one of the founder members. The people who live at Trelay (20 adults and 8 children at the moment) are living in a lovely place with a good proportion of their own food and energy being produced on the farm. They are focussing on living well together and looking after each other. My wish, however, is to live in a cohousing community focussed on education and outreach, and I feel driven to work towards this, especially since the climate crisis and ecological extinction threats are becoming real. I am now part of a new group seeking to set a "cohousing community for the climate crisis" near Penzance.
So my living spaces at Trelay are available - could this be the opportunity you have been waiting for?
Personal advertisement from Jackie Carpenter, jackie@trelay.org
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It’s sad to announce that Penington (Senior) Cohousing is winding down and we thank them for the generosity of spirit in sharing their journey to help others.
Here’s their report back in their own words:
“We did not get enough interest in our latest site and those volunteers who run the company no longer have the time or energy to continue. Some of the main points we learnt that might help the cohousing community in the UK:
- We all need to increase awareness of cohousing and senior cohousing as a housing option
- Politicians need to recognise that they should support cohousing as a social benefit
- Councils and governments, you need to help cohousing groups identify and purchase sites
- We need awareness that political and financial help is needed for squeezed middle income group (about 80% of population) if cohousing is to expand.
Cohousing groups are bottom up, run by volunteers. They have a shared desire to be part of creating the community and buildings but may not have any knowledge or experience about what is entailed in accomplishing this. They also need time to form a functioning group and make decisions. At the same time everyone wants to move in ‘as soon as possible!’
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Threshold Centre Community Cohousing
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Threshold have a vacancy, a one bedroom housing association house for rent.
You can visit and find out more on their Afternoon Tea and Tour Sat Oct 5th 3:00 - 4:30 pm. More details on the website here.
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Kent Cohousing invites those who want to know more about plans to create cohousing in Kent to come and have an informal chat at Castle Hill Community Centre, Castle Hill, Ebbsfleet Valley, Dartford, DA10 1BR this Saturday (5/10). There is a free car park and for those coming by train the nearest stations are Ebbsfleet and Swanscombe.
Non-members are invited to join us from 11.30 - 1.30pm.
Email info@kentcohousing.co.uk or Call 0776 5176729.
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There are plans for 20 affordable and various sized dwellings as part of a new CoHousing scheme on the Isle of Wight. Head to the open event to find out more.
Monkton Arts and Lounge Coffee Bar, East St, Ryde on Thursday 10th October from 5.30-7.00 pm.
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Bristol Festival of the Future City
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Wed, Oct 16, 2019 - Sat, Oct 19, 2019
The third Festival of the Future City will be set over three days and aims to be the largest public debate about the future of cities. It will bring together politicians, writers, artists, scientists, change-makers, academics, journalists, students, the public, economists, futurists, policy makers, roboticists, philosophers, filmmakers, think tanks, charities, social enterprises, city-builders and more.
Further details on the Bristol Housing Festival website
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Don’t forget to send us your news, events, tips or feedback about life in your cohousing that we can share to encourage others. That’s what the UK Cohousing Network is all about! Our newsletter goes out the first Wednesday of every month so please email through to us in advance at office@cohousing.org.uk and try to include images or links to video if you can.
Got questions about cohousing? You can contact us at office@cohousing.org.uk or use the resources available below:
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