New Housing LIN Viewpoint weighs the merits of senior cohousing against intergenerational living

In this Housing LIN Viewpoint (No 118), Dr Kirsten Stevens-Wood, Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care at Cardiff Metropolitan University, compares senior cohousing, designed specifically for older adults, with intergenerational cohousing, where residents of different ages live together by choice.

She weighs the strengths of each: senior cohousing's capacity to reduce loneliness and support ageing in place, against intergenerational cohousing's reciprocal exchange between generations and reflection of wider society. Drawing on existing examples and the APPG Inquiry into Creating Intergenerational Communities, Kirsten argues that both models have a complementary role within a diverse housing strategy for an ageing Britain.