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Last edited 13 Sep 2024

Cohousing and related terms

1 Introduction
2 More on Co-housing
3 Case study: Springhill Co-Housing (Cohousing Company Ltd.)
4 Case study: Marmalade Lane
5 Case study: Bridport Co-housing
6 Related articles on Designing Buildings

[edit] Introduction

There are a number of terms that sit alongside co-housing (or sometimes cohousing). These are not necessarily mutually exclusive, for example, a co-housing project can also be a community land trust and may or may not be set up using a co-operative structure. Some of these terms are described below in brief and in detail in linked articles.

[edit] Co-housing

Communities that are actively self-managed by their their residents jointly. This can apply to completed developments, but also prior to any development, where a small group of people jointly cooperate to take a project from concept to planning, design, construction, through to occupation and management.

For more information about UK based co-housing visit https://cohousing.org.uk/ and https://diggersanddreamers.org.uk/communities/cohousing

[edit] Community-led housing

Community-led housing is a process in which local communities play a central role in providing their own housing often for specified social groups, such as the elderly or local people. The intention is to engage the community in leading the process of providing housing at affordable rates.

[edit] Co-operative housing

Co-operative housing (housing cooperatives or housing co-ops) describes housing provision using a certain form of legal entity, a cooperative or a corporation, which owns the land (and or the housing units) into which members join or buy into shares as a form of joint organisation, responsibility and ownership. Such a legal entity can also be used for other activities such as design practices, commerce, energy provision and so on.

[edit] Intentional community housing

Intentional community housing is defined as 'a group of people who have chosen to live together or share resources on the basis of common values'.

For more information about intentional communities see https://www.ic.org/

[edit] Self-help housing

Self-help housing often refers to refurbishment projects where groups of people or communities, sometimes in housing need take action to restore and renovate abandoned homes themselves to meet housing needs.

For more information about self-help housing visit https://www.selfhelpha.co.uk/

[edit] Community self build housing

Community self build housing is housing provision, often new build which involves members actively contributing to aspects of construction, some time using mechanisms such as sweat hours to balance contributions.

For more information see https://selfbuildportal.org.uk/ or https://www.gov.uk/guidance/self-build-and-custom-housebuilding

[edit] Community land trusts homes

Community land trusts homes are in a specific form, placing land ownership into a trust or nonprofit corporation that holds land on behalf of a place-based community, which in turn manages the trust. Housing might be bought and sold to local people at a reduced market rate, or by terms dictated by those of the trust.

For more information about community land trusts see https://www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk/

[edit] Co-living

Co-living simply refers to the increasingly common form of shared housing where three or more people residing in an area with high housing costs for single occupants, share to reduce living costs.

For more information see https://thearl.org.uk/news/ukaa-announces-launch-of-new-co-living-committee/

[edit] Housing associations

Housing associations are independent, not-for-profit organisations that provide social housing for those in need. They are also known as ‘registered social landlords’ or ‘private registered providers of social housing’. They provide houses for rent and sometimes offer shared-ownership schemes. They are required to be registered with Homes England and are represented by the National Housing Federation (NHF).

For more information see https://www.gov.uk/housing-association-homes and https://www.housing.org.uk/

[edit] Shared ownership

Shared ownership is a home ownership system by which the occupier of a dwelling buys a proportion of the property and pays rent on the remainder, typically to a local authority or housing association and as a result of high house prices, relative to average earnings.

[edit] Tenant management organisations

A tenant management organisation (TMO) is a group or body of council tenants who collectively manage their homes. TMO's were introduced by the Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations in 1994. TMO's are independent legal bodies which can enter into a formal contract with the council, known as the management agreement. The management agreement outlines the services the TMO has taken responsibility for as well as those that remain under the remit of the council.

[edit] More on Co-housing

Co-housing is a method of living that has become established in several countries around the world. Created and run by residents, co-housing developments are communities where people not only know their neighbours but actively manage their neighbourhood alongside them. Whilst the meaning, generally applies to completed developments, some co-housing projects refer to a longer self managed time frame. Where a small group form long before a development is built and cooperate from concept to planning, design to construction, through to occupation and ongoing management.

Co-housing, co-operative housing and community led housing projects tend to be small enough that everyone can be familiar with each other, but large enough not to force them to be, co-housing communities are built around a shared desire for a sense of belonging, neighbourliness and mutual support that many people feel is missing from modern life and contemporary housing developments. Small schemes maybe just a handful of dwellings, whilst the largest scheme in the UK is over 50 dwellings, and can be in an urban, suburban or a rural location.

In co-housing communities, just as in conventional neighbourhoods, residents own or rent their own private homes. But everyone also benefits from extra shared facilities and spaces that allow members to do things together. Shared outdoor spaces provide opportunities to grow food, play and be close to nature, and a shared Common House provides additional indoor space for residents to meet, eat and socialise together. Car parking tends to be kept to a minimum and located at the periphery, allowing the central spaces close to homes to be used for other things.

Living in a co-housing community brings a few extra responsibilities – residents are encouraged to be actively involved in running the place – but many more benefits. This way of living is part of mainstream housing development in many European countries and has a growing presence in the US. In the UK there are several completed purpose-built co-housing schemes – and many more in the planning or delivery stages.

The UK Cohousing Network is the principal resource for co-housing groups in the UK and its website lists dozens of active co-housing groups across the country. While many are open to all and actively seek a generational mix, some may be exclusively for older people. Some are new build; others conversions of existing property. All co-housing projects tend to have a strong focus on engendering more sustainable ways of living.

[edit] Case study: Springhill Co-Housing (Cohousing Company Ltd.)

Springhill Co-housing is considered the first new build co-housing scheme built in the UK. Based on the Danish model, co-housing is a form of collaborative housing that aims to create a real sense of community and achieve true social and environmental sustainability. Like all co-housing communities, Springhill Community was intentionally formed. The scheme has been planned, owned and managed by the residents who share activities like cooking, eating together, childcare, gardening and administration. Planning permission was granted in June 2001 and it was completed in June 2004.

Springhill was the first in a programme of developments by the Cohousing Company Ltd, a housing developer with a progressive approach to design, the environment and new ways of living. The residents of Springhill became equal directors of the company undertaking the development, and remain as directors of the company owning the freehold of the site. They each individually own the leasehold of their house or flat.

The project effectively falls outside the standard ways of housing provision in the UK being developed by neither a social landlord nor a private developer. It brings control of housing back to the residents, enabling them to develop and shape their own destiny, at the same time as building vibrant, strong, sustainable communities.

The scheme of 35 private houses and flats was designed with the full participation of the residents, and has achieved a sense of community not common in UK housing.

For further information visit: https://www.springhillcohousing.com/ and https://www.architype.co.uk/project/springhill-co-housing/

[edit] Case study: Marmalade Lane

Marmalade Lane - formerly known as K1 is a co-housing project that was delivered in Orchard Park, Cambridge. The site was owned by Cambridge City Council, who following the 2007-8 financial crisis took the decision to use its landholding to bring forward an alternative form of community-led housing development. Cambridge City Council supported Cambridge Cohousing Limited (CCL) in bringing forward plans for a new co-housing development. Working with advisors Instinctively Green and Cambridge Architectural Research, CCL prepared a detailed design brief for the scheme.

In 2015, Cambridge City Council and CCL ran a competitive tendering process to select an enabling developer for the project. It selected a partnership between UK developer TOWN, and Swedish housing manufacturer Trivselhus.

Detailed planning permission was obtained in 2016, the result of many months collaboration between the developer, Mole Architects and the CCL group. The developer and its design team worked closely with future residents on every aspect of the scheme, including the masterplan, design of the dwellings, energy strategy and landscape plan.

The local planning authority, South Cambridgeshire District Council, was one of 11 custom build vanguard authorities selected by the government at the time to pioneer custom build and self build housing.

Marmalade Lane comprises of a series of terraces together with a purpose-build apartment block, laid out around a large central shared garden. The centrally-located Common House will provide a large dining area, catering kitchen, laundry and a range of ancillary spaces and facilities for the group to use.

Homes range from 47 sq. m one-bedroom flats to 128 sq. m five-bedroom houses. TOWN’s custom build system has allowed residents to select their basic house type and configure the interior from a menu of floor plan options, allowing a high degree of customisation and a wide variety of dwelling sizes from a single system. Residents also had the opportunity to choose their external brickwork from a pre-selected palette of bricks.

Built with Trivselhus’s Climate Shield system, a closed-panel timber construction system manufactured in Sweden, the scheme will offer residents very low running costs and close-to-Passivhaus energy performance standards.

Half of the homes are available for social rent through our housing association partner, Bournemouth Churches Housing Association (BCHA). The other half are for shared ownership either at 80% leasehold purchase, or through the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. Designed to be affordable, high quality, energy efficient, climate resilient and nature friendly, Hazelmead will be managed by the community itself. Car-free streets will provide safe space for children to play. The Common House and outdoor areas will give opportunities for socialising, companionship and mutual support.

[edit] Case study: Bridport Co-housing

In 2008 a group of local people in Bridport, Dorset, got together to design a co-housing neighbourhood it became, over the next 15 years the largest, all affordable co-housing scheme in the UK and provided mixed tenure intergenerational neighbourhood of eco homes (1 bed flats and 2,3,and 4 bed houses) for 53 households and completed with residents moving into some of the homes in September 2022.

Known locally as Hazelmead the community is also considered the first Cohousing / Community Land Trust combination, including a major partnership with a housing association, the largest community owned micro-grid managing energy created from its solar panels. Moreover, the project is an exemplar for mixed tenure housing including social rental and shared ownership housing including housing for key-workers at the neighbouring hospital.