Affordable
Pooling resources cuts costs and reduces need for individual investments.
Cohousing communities are communities organised collaboratively. Residents have their own private spaces but band together to share meals and facilities, organise activities and look out for each other.
The focus is on community. All that’s required is a neighbourhood where people want to band together, take care of one another and collaborate for the good of all.
It varies, but most in the UK range from 10-40 households.
Some communities are for women or seniors only.
Most are mixed, with single people, couples, children and elderly residents.
Tools/Equipment
Cleaning + Maintenance Duties
Lawnmowers
Communal Gardens
Swimming Pools
Child-minding
Common House with guest bedrooms and space for entertaining
Micro-Renewable Energy Schemes
Internet
Communal Kitchen (in addition to private kitchens in each residence)
Laundry Facilities
Efficient Heating/Cooling Units
Library
Workshops
Gym/Yoga Studios
Vehicles
Music Studios
Office/Art/Performance Spaces
Pooling resources cuts costs and reduces need for individual investments.
Conscientious design ensures residents have secure communal space to socialise & play in.
Sharing increases efficiency and reduces waste.
Strong sense of community combats loneliness and isolation.
Communal efforts and investments save money and improve quality of life.
Residents manage their own housing and community needs.
Close-knit communities tend to be safe and healthy.
As an option to avoid isolation or conventional senior housing.
Who want a sense of community and support.
Seeking supportive environments in which to raise children while juggling professional lives.
Who want to reduce their footprints through collaborative living.
"Cohousing is a way of combating the alienation and isolation many experience today, recreating the neighbourly support of the past."
of Brits don't know their neighbours
Live alone
of adults worry about their parents being lonely
of over-65s worry about being a burden on their children
of elderly are in contact with family, friends, and neighbours less than once a week
million
elderly people say TV is their main companion
wish their children lived closer
Living alone increases risk of depression by 80% for working-age people.
Isolation increases risk of dementia and heart attack.
Isolated individuals are more likely to smoke and be obese, and less likely to exercise regularly.
Those who live alone are
2-3x less likely to survive a heart attack.
In terms of reducing overall health, loneliness is comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day!
Regulations vary widely from location to location. Neighbourhoods are also often wary about allowing these often-misunderstood alternative communities, and legislators are slow to introduce changes to ease the spread of cohousing.
Because they diverge from the typical developmental model, banks and local governments are often unwilling to support new cohousing development plans. So loans are difficult to acquire and the financial burdens on new communities can therefore be difficult to surmount.
Only 10% of UK homes are self-built. The majority of homes today are built by massive construction firms, whose concerns are economic. Cohousing developers face tough competition from more influential developers when trying to acquire property and build upon it as they have lower build costs and can therefore afford to pay more for the land.
Few people understand the concept of cohousing, and many assume it involves hippie-style communes. So cohousing developers face an ideological divide and are often hindered by biases and misled assumptions about what these communities are like.
Ownership models differ from community to community, and many questions must be answered before a cohousing community can take root. For example: Who owns the land and the houses? Who are the investors? What happens when community members die or decide to move away?
UK |
0 built | 0+ in development |
Holland |
0 built | 0+ in development |
USA |
0 built (approx.) | 0+ in development |
of Danish households are now cohousing
+200 senior-only communities
+100 women-only communities
Because communal space is used for guest bedrooms and yards and other facilities, individual homes are smaller and cohousing developments use less land.
Vehicle sharing significantly reduces the community's carbon footprint.
Communal gardens support local, sustainable agriculture.
Using communal spaces, fewer resources are used per person for construction, use, and maintenance.
On-site workspaces reduce need for commute.
Shared heating/cooling units reduce emissions and are far more efficient than individual units in each home.
There is a shortage of affordable workspace in the UK. Because cohousing communities provide communal workspace, their proliferation will further boost growth in the already rapidly rising freelance sector.
Because they use fewer vehicles and resources, cohousing developments can be built on land currently not zoned for housing - a fact which is particularly relevant in light of London's housing crisis.
By conserving resources and pooling assets, cohousing communities can help alleviate the shortage of affordable housing. It is estimated that about 35% of future cohousing developments will provide affordable housing.
Baby boomer are increasingly looking for alternative living options outside retirement communities.
In the US, the number of cohousing communities are expected to double by 2015.
The internet and social media have made it easier than ever to connect with like-minded people interested in building cohousing communities.
Each year, in nations throughout Europe and Americas, more cohousing developments spring up.
