Work on the wild side - two cohousing briefings

These two Housing LIN Briefings discuss the growing interest in exploring non-mainstream housing options for older people, including various methods of self-help and mutual support that are often similar to cohousing principles.

  1. The first briefing paper is aimed at developers and architects and offer an insight into a fascinating research project that set out to assess interest in cohousing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and ended up with a radical set of ideas about how to live our later lives. This can be found at the bottom of the page.
  2. The second briefing, has been written with commissioners and organisations providing housing and care and support services in mind. The main challenge is that it is virtually impossible to quantify demand for cohousing unless and until a cohousing or community-led housing group is brought to commissioners' attention. Commissioners cannot directly commission cohousing, since activities are bottom-up. They can, however, create cohousing-friendly conditions by acknowledging, in key local plans that they will support self-directed or community-led housing groups. This briefing highlights such an approach and can be viewed under the link below.