What is Cohousing and what does it offer? Anna Kear Executive Director UK Cohousing Network anna@cohousing.org.uk  www.cohousing.org.uk

Cohousing is a way of living, sharing and mutual support Cohousing brings people together in neighbourly groups to share common space and facilities while also enjoying their own self-contained accommodation and personal space

Cohousing – a lifestyle

Cohousing principles Intentional - set up and run by their members for mutual benefit Members live consciously as a community Self contained dwellings plus shared space - balance between privacy and communality Designed for easy informal communal contact - size and scale to maximise community dynamics (usually 10-40 households) Common house facilitates shared activities like communal meals

and what it is not.. A commune Income sharing A gated community Separate from the local community Tenure specific

What does Cohousing offer? A community - mutual support and friendship Sustainable living - sharing = less stuff, more resilient Control - co-producing your housing & self managing Security - looking out for each other Enterprise - working from home sociably A choice - Cohousing is not for everyone but it can be a solution to what some people are looking for

“When I came back with the news (breast cancer diagnosis) within 2 minutes 6 women were in my sitting room opening the brandy. There were offers from people to stay the night, a rota to take me to chemotherapy, a rota for bringing me soup – it was amazing”

Cohousing Groups Groups are mostly self-forming around common values and location Groups have to date tended to form as either: Inter-generational a mix of many household types and ages often with a significant numbers of families or Senior specifically for people aged 50+ and excluding children

Older Women's Cohousing (OWCH)

to reflect local opportunities Routes to Cohousing Diversity of form to reflect local opportunities New Build Building Conversion Retrofit to existing housing

Routes to Cohousing Grass roots to market Existing groups - have properties for rent & sale Developing groups - looking for people to join Forming a group Developer led Facilitated - working with Housing Associations, Co-operatives etc

A brief history & context Started in Denmark in 1960s. Now 8% of housing in Denmark Across Europe - particularly the Netherlands, Switzerland & Spain USA & Canada – mainly home ownership -130 exist & 100+ in development A sprinkling in Japan, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia & elsewhere

UK Cohousing Cohousing started to develop in the UK at the end of the 1990s 19 established cohousing groups 75+ groups developing; 15 senior cohousing groups Many individuals seeking group to join 6000 hits on our website in typical month Public and media interest - cohousing identified as 1 of top 10 solutions to the housing crisis

UK Cohousing

About UK Cohousing Network Member-Led organisation support for forming, developing & existing groups Manifesto Genuine affordability for all Support for rental as well as ownership forms of tenure Joint working with other community housing organisations An advocate for Cohousing raising awareness & providing advice to support policy development Currently applying for charitable status

Big Lottery Accelerating Ideas UKCN Current Projects Big Lottery Accelerating Ideas Opportunities and challenges of an ageing population in the UK Evidence of benefits of Cohousing and mutual support - link to social care issues & wellbeing Demand survey & community identification Design templates Support offer & expertise required to make the process easier Financial modelling - tenure options and particular issues for older people Retrofit pilot to existing older persons housing

ESRC Seminars & parliamentary launch 22nd June 2016 HAPPI 3 recommendation: We encourage more housing associations to use their development skills and experience to assist the edging “senior co-housing movement”, custom building for groups of older people.

“Radical public services innovation will only come from a markedly different starting point. The key will be to redesign services to enable more mutual self-help, so that people can create and sustain their own solutions. Enabling people to come together to find their own, local solutions should become one of the main goals of public services. Services do a better job when they leave behind stronger, supportive relationships for people to draw on and so not need a service.” State of Loneliness - Guardian 1 July 2009 - Charles Leadbeater founding partner of Participle, which works with communities to devise solutions to intractable social challenges.

Anna Kear Executive Director - UK Cohousing Network   E: anna@cohousing.org.uk | M: 07876 347107 Skype:  annakear | Web: cohousing.org.uk  |  Facebook: UK Cohousing Network | Twitter: @UKCohousing NB I generally don’t work on Fridays