A cohousing group working to create 33 households and affordable homes in Chapeltown, Leeds. The development will include shared facilities including gardens and recreational spaces, with a focus on sustainability.
The group is currently fundraising to progress their plans.
Broadhempston Community Land Trust is a community interest company bringing on six self-build homes for local people in housing need. Planning was achieved using a Section 106 agreement.
Based on an affordable, eco-housing model, each homeowner commits to 20 hours a week labour. The “sweat equity” equates to a 25%, and owners can buy up to 50% more on a rent-to-buy basis, with the land trust retaining a 25% stake in the property, plus the freehold of the land.
Properties can only be sold at 80% of the current market value, and only to a local family who need a home.
Update as 10/09/17
The Mount Pleasant Royal Mail site was sold for £193 million to Taylor Wimpey, bringing to an end the association’s hopes for a community-led project for the site.
The Mount Pleasant Association is a community-led housing group working to obtain a Community Right To Build for the former Royal Mail site in central London. The Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood Area and Forum was designated on the 4th February 2016. The site is planning to have 125 residential units, on 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom flats, 1,200sqm of commercial space, a communal space together with roof terraces and a pocket park. Because a Community Right to Build Order is valid only on developments of 150 residential units or less, the community-led proposal is only on a portion of the larger site.
The Old Station is a collective custom build which is being put together at Brownlow Road, Ellesmere in Shropshire. Brought on by A Fairer Society, a group of community-led housing developers, the site has planning for 57 new homes to be built to a high eco standard, favourably priced to compare with similar local homes. Currently the group is look for residents.
The Older Women’s Cohousing (OWCH) New Ground Housing scheme is a group custom build project created by 20 women varying in age from their mid-fifties upwards. Founded on the principles of community living, the group have worked with Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects to design 26 apartments with communal facilities and a shared garden in outer London. Planning was granted in April 2013.
Work has started on site at Knightstone Housing Association’s third custom build co-housing project for ex-service personnel working on a ‘Train and build’ programme. The development will see the demolition of an office block which is to be replaced by 14 new homes, with ten 1-bed and four 2-bed properties for rent by the people involved in the project. Ten will be for the Train and build programme members, while four will be for ex-service personnel who are unable to be involved with the build.
Knightstone Housing Association has worked with homeless ex-service personnel to build 10 custom built homes for them to rent. Working with main contractor United Living, the ex-forces personnel have learnt new skills as part of the ‘Train and learn’ programme, which is designed to help them engage with the community and increase their employability.
Fishponds Cohousing is now complete, with all residents moved in.
Resident are working as a group to install kitchens, bathrooms, decorating, fitting skirting and architraves, flooring, tiling and works to the communal garden to earn ‘sweat equity’. Planning approval was granted in 2013 and the project moved on site earlier this year, with an anticipated construction schedule of 52 weeks.
Bristol CLT’s Fishponds cohousing project won Best Group Build Category at the Build It Awards 2015.
Brought on by Bristol CLT, Fishponds Road has new build and refurbished homes offered to residents for self finish. Located on Brownfield land in the Fishponds area of Bristol, the development is set on the 0.36 acre site of a stone-built Victorian primary school.
The building had been derelict for over 10 years before the council offered it to the CLT for just £1 in March 2014 (the land had been valued at £286,000). The local authority’s forward-thinking move has enabled a scheme that provides 12 mixed-tenure homes and apartments – some for shared ownership and the rest for affordable rental.
Access issues ruled out the idea of demolition and replacement of the original school, so the CLT agreed to convert it into six one-bedroom duplex apartments. Perpendicular to this would be a row of new terraced homes bookended by courtyard-style houses – creating six new three-bedroom properties.The resulting L-shaped scheme is centred around a communal garden the residents will manage themselves – something that was identified as a key feature of the development during early consultation sessions with the CLT members.
The project includes a number of innovative extras, such as the use of a single electrical supply and solar photovoltaic panels, which will allow future residents to benefit from discounted energy.
Cambridge Cohousing’s K1 42-home site has been awarded planning permission by South Cambridgeshire District Council
October 2015
Cambridge Cohousing K1 site appoints developer for custom build site
Cambridge Cohousing K1 site appoints TownHus for its custom build homes site, designed by architects Mole: Custom Build Strategy
September 2015
Cambridge Cohousing’s K1 custom build project is a 40-home site designed by Mole architects to Passivhaus standards.
The site will be made up of a trio of terraced homes and paired flats together with a low-rise apartment block. There is also a shared communal building on site. TOWNHus has been appointed as the developer, with the properties constructed off site.
A project of six homes brought on by its residents under their own development company, Springfield Gardens Group. With a shared vision for how to live, the group commissioned architects Henley Halebrown Rorrison (HHbR) for a set of six houses with green measures and shared social spaces. The build contractors were Sandwood Design & Build.
To get an insight into the resident’s experiences with the site, click here.
Credit: Ioana Marinescu
