2. Older Women’s Cohousing - An intentional community
OWCH Ltd
Older Women’s Cohousing
- An intentional community

4. Older Women’s Cohousing
Future neighbours know each other
Active pursuit of neighbourliness
Mutual support
Self management and control
Active shared space

5. Older Women’s Cohousing
Residents participate in design
Design geared to ease of social interaction
Design geared to ageing

6. Older Women’s Cohousing
‘Community’ doesn’t just happen
Build social cohesion and solidarity
Training in group skills
Policies for living together

7. OWCH Conditions Over 50 any background or culture
Want to rent, part buy or buy
Prepared to commit to group’s values
Meet eligibility criteria

8. OWCH Values Respect for diversity Care and support for each other
Balance of privacy & community
Counter ageist stereotypes
Co-operate & share responsibility
Be part of wider community

9. OWCH – Older Women’s Co Housing - have been working with Housing for Women for a number of years. Hanover Housing have now purchased a site for the project in North London, and the series of collaborative design workshops have been held at PTE’s offices.

10. OWCH members prepared for the workshops with a site visit, on which they took photos and filled in comment sheets.

11. The women then took part in a series of design exercises spread over three workshops. The first of these included the manipulation of a kit of parts to establish their priorities for the site.

12. The second workshop focused on access to the flats, their views and orientation, and on the group’s aspirations for the Common House.

13. Resulting in some important consensus decisions, and recording some remaining varieties of opinion

14. In the third workshop the group got down to examining the implications of the decisions made so far, and the direction of travel, on the layout of individual flats. Each group used the same template, allowing the results to be compared across the groups

15. Having looked at the specifics of flat layouts, the group turned back to the larger scale of discussion about forms and materials using the mood boards to which everyone had been encouraged to contribute during the process.

16. Work in Progress Option 1
Little Houses: a collection of like-minded individuals

17. Work in Progress Option 2
An expression of the ethos of the group: the Crescent scheme

18. Working with Co-Housing Groups
Collaborative working
The principals of co-housing are to engage and be inclusive
Meet the requirements of the co-housing principles
A model of housing for older people
Promote and offer wider options and choice
Carry out focused market research
Working with co-housing groups in London,
Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and other locations
Slide 1
Hanover has been working with a number of Co-Housing groups to look at the opportunities in developing mixed co-housing schemes across the country, which we hope will become a model of housing for older people.
This model will meet the requirements of the co-housing principles and Hanover hopes to gain expertise in collaborative working with co-housing groups in order to promote and offer wider choice and housing options for older people.
This partnership also offers an opportunity to carry out market research on the housing aspirations and needs with focused groups. The further development and delivery of co-housing projects is a corporate objective for Hanover and we are currently working with co-housing groups in London, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and other locations.
Hanover and the co-housing groups are currently looking at the engagement and partnership working protocols and principles. Whilst there are similarities and common principals in these agreements, each one is unique and different to meet individual group requirements.

19. Scheme Development
Co-operation at all levels of the development process
Schemes vary in size to fit individual and local needs
A detailed cost plan is then produced once the final design
The property values are dependant on the final costs
Rent are mostly being set to meet local Social rent levels
The Service Charge is set and agreed during the feasibility stages
Hanover using expertise and experience to procure and deliver schemes
The management models are being developed
Slide 2
The principals of co-housing are to be inclusive and to engage with all parties, promoting engagement and co-operation at all levels of the development process and an example of this is in the design workshops.
These are group centred with consultants and members contributing fully to the design from concept through to final agreed design drawings.
The overall schemes will vary in size to fit individual and local needs but currently consist of a mixture of dwellings sizes 1, 2 and 3 bed and tenures including rented, shared ownership and outright sales.
A detailed cost plan is then produced once the final design has been agreed and Hanover will be using our expertise and experience to procure and deliver the final scheme.
In all the current projects the final property values for the dwellings to be sold to the Co-Housing groups are dependant on the final scheme costs.
Rent are mostly being set to meet local Social rent levels and the Service Charge is set out for discussion and agreement during the feasibility stages.
The management and running of the finished scheme will also vary and models are being developed which include the groups, as well as others were Hanover and other organisations, such as Housing for Women, will be involved in these areas.

20. What Hanover can offer Our partnership approach to delivering housing.
Liaising with the local authority, Enabling, Adult Care, Housing and Planners
Our status with the HCA
Development expertise
Financial appraisal
Expertise and experience of delivering Housing and Services for older people.
Corporate commitment to delivering co-housing schemes
Slide 3
What Hanover can offer:
• Our partnership approach to delivering housing.
• Liaising with the local authority, Enabling, Adult Care, Housing and Planners
• Our status with the HCA
• Development expertise
• Financial appraisal
• Expertise and experience of delivering Housing and Services for older people.
• Corporate commitment to delivering co-housing schemes