Speeding the growth of mixed-tenure cohousing
22 July 2010
Cohousing at home
and abroad
My story
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I've lived at The Community Project
cohousing in Sussex for last 11 years.
Didn't want to grow old on my own
I have a rich social and cultural life
closely interwoven with others living
here
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I'm the envy of many of my friends
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Want to pass on the baton to others
Common house meal at The
Project, Laughton
What is cohousing ?
A way of living which brings
individuals and families together in
neighbourly groups to share
common aims and activities while
also enjoying their own selfcontained accommodation and
personal space.
Features of cohousing
- Self contained dwellings with shared facilities
- Intentional neighbourhood design
- Participatory development process
- Resident Management
Springhill
History of Cohousing
Started in Denmark in 1960s. Now hundreds
in Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands & Belgium
 Europe - well established way to provide
affordable housing within mixed-tenure
developments
 USA & Canada – mainly home ownership. 120
exist & 50 more planned
 A sprinkling in Japan, Thailand, New Zealand,
and Australia & elsewhere
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Current situation in UK
• 40 + groups seeking sites
• Many individuals seeking group to join
• 10 established cohousing projects
• Another tier of up to 60 loose coalitions
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5000 hits on our website last month
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Public and media interest
Threshold Centre, Dorset:
mixed tenure cohousing
Obstacles
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Land prices – single biggest barrier
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Lack of capacity within groups
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Difficulty in finding HA partners
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Planning barriers
Partnerships
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Need to develop partnerships with developers
and housing associations
Commonplace in Europe & USA
Advantages
- more likely to succeed
- get built quicker & often at less cost
But need professional cohousing infrastructure
to broker partnerships
International cohousing
contacts
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Last 3 years Network had extensive contact
with cohousing professionals & communities
in USA & Scandinavia
Mark Westcombe – 3rd visit to USA a month
ago
Me - 3 week study tour in Sweden and
Denmark in May
Some personal observations follow....
Swedish cohousing
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45 cohousing schemes, mainly urban
Result of civil society campaigns and support from
public housing authorities during the 1980s.
Last 20 years - abolition of subsidies & ideological
shift to private market. Right to buy & sell out of
public housing stock. ( Sweden & Denmark)
Recent resurgence - a trend towards collaborative
housing – 6 new schemes built in last 5 years &
more are on their way
Swedish model – low-rise flats
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Mainly blocks of flats
Some new-build, others conversion from existing
residential blocks
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Cheaper and easier & less risk for housing
companies - can easily convert back to conventional
housing
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Communal facilities on ground floor and basement
with individual units on the upper floors. Sometimes a
communal roof patio
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Regnebagen, Lund, Sweden
Russinet, Second half of life
cohousing, Lund, Sweden
Slottet, intergenerational
cohousing (retrofit) Lund, Sweden
Size of units
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Average size of individual homes in
cohousing in Sweden and Denmark
seem small
So as to keep them affordable
Exceptions to planning requirements
allowed because of the communal
space available
Size of units (con't)
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The senior cohousing units I visited were small but
beautifully designed & worked well
But several family units in intergenerational housing
seemed rather overcrowded
However, often long waiting lists show units are very
sought after
Some residents said they needed more space, but
said they adapted because so keen to stay
Examples of unit sizes
BoActive Landgangen: 'second half of life' (senior)
cohousing project in Malmo, Sweden, built in 2008
- one bed unit = 58 sqm
- two bed unit = 70 sqm
Tre Portar, intergenerational scheme in Stockholm
- three bed unit = 87sqm
- four bed unit = 97 sqm
TrePortar – intergenerational
cohousing, Stockholm
BoActive Landgangen - 2nd half
of life cohousing, Malmo
Denmark
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350 cohousing units for senior citizens with 6000
residents
140 intergenerational cohousing schemes
Residents typically give up part of own housing area
to the common areas – thus reducing construction
Costs
Most new cohousing units are terraced or cluster
houses built around a common area with common
house centrally positioned.
Absolons, Roskilde, Denmark
Absolons, Roskilde, Denmark
Kilen, intergenerational
cohousing, Osterhoy, Denmark
Kilen
Kilen
Ahusane, Roskilde, Denmark
Munksogaard, Denmark: cluster
of 5 mini-cohousing schemes
Eco/village cohousing scheme comprising:
- 5 cohousing clusters
- 10 years old, 100 units, 250 residents
- 40 owned, 60 rented
The clusters are:
- senior rented
- young people rented
- intergenerational owner occupiers
- intergenerational shared ownership (% owned
with mortgage, rest in rent)
- intergenerational rented
Munksogaard, intergenerational
owner occupier
Munksogaard
intergenerational rental
Munksogaard, owner occupier
common house dining room
Munksogaard, 2 bed unit,
intergenerational rental
Lessons
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Facilities & structure for communal eating essential
Positioning intergenerational & senior cohousing in
clusters or adjacent works well
Include cohousing features in masterplanning big
estates (cf Munksogaard & Egebjerg in Denmark)
Support from committed housing professionals &
leadership from enlightened municipal housing
authorities can really make a difference