The need to provide housing for older people is critical. People are living longer lives and the proportion of older people in the population is increasing. In mid-2016 there were 1.6 million people aged 85 and over in the UK; by mid-2041 this is projected to double to 3.2 million. Offering older people, a better choice of accommodation to suit their changing needs can help them live independently for longer, feel more connected to their communities and help reduce costs to the social care and health systems. What is often ignored in the housing environment – both in the UK and worldwide – is the diversity of 4 the older people community and their varying needs. In the current UK housing market, 1 million owner-occupiers aged 55-plus live in poverty – jeopardising their ability to keep their home warm and safe as they age. Around a third of people aged 50 –plus say their home needs work to make it suitable as they get older but cite cost as the biggest issue preventing changes.

 

Co-housing is considered an ‘alternative’ approach to housing that could help tackle the above issues, particularly as they are intentional communities created and run by their residents. However, there are several barriers to cohousing developing in the UK. These have to do with its culture; lack of familiarity with the concept among policymakers, housing developers and local councils’ resistance to change; little available capital finance; limited access to land due to competition with large developers; top-heavy and bureaucratic housing associations; and land and development taxes. 

 

Culturally, the UK housing sector is not used to people creating housing for themselves, particularly the older community. Instead, it enables such schemes as investor-led commercial co-living – increasingly large-scale developments in which living spaces are reduced to the very minimum on the premise that residents are compensated by shared communal spaces. They do not contribute to affordable housing targets and are not designed for long-term living.  These cultural barriers are combined with ageism when dealing with older communities, as there is a false perception that they will be unable to take care of themselves or each other. 

 

The idea for New Ground began in 1999, inspired by the success of cohousing communities in countries like Denmark and the Netherlands. Cohousing is not common in the UK and New Ground’s members spent years seeking finance and planning approval for the scheme. After setting up a limited company (Older Women’s Cohousing), New Ground’s members engaged in lengthy discussions with developers, banks, housing associations and local councils, educating them about the cohousing concept and getting the support they needed to bring the project to life. The project was eventually commissioned with the help of two housing associations: Hanover (which funded construction), and Housing for Women (which owns the freehold and acts as landlord for the social housing residents).

 

A major challenge was that housing lone older women is given lower priority than housing families. The group also found it difficult to get finance and had to compete with large developers to acquire land. Many potential sites were explored and fell through, but after winning the support of the local Director of Adult Social Care, they were eventually granted planning permission for the current site in High Barnet.

 

During this time, the group-built relationships with two housing associations: Hanover and Housing for Women. Hanover agreed to take on the role of developer and fund the construction of the building, before selling the flats to New Ground’s members. Housing for Women purchased the freehold to the land, providing security of ownership for residents. New Ground owns the head lease and each flat has a 250-year lease. The women were very involved throughout the six-year planning and construction period, choosing the architect and influencing the design of the building to suit their needs. Construction began in 2010 and the group moved into their homes in January 2017.

 

There are very few mixed-tenure cohousing communities in the UK. This is due to a misconception among some local authorities about how cohousing communities select their residents. New Ground successfully persuaded the council that they could meet the requirements for social housing and now provides eight apartments for social rent in the building.

 

Every woman living at New Ground is a registered member of the Older Women’s Cohousing company with an equal voice in decision-making. The women govern life together through a monthly meeting and work in teams to manage different aspects of the community. These include a management committee (elected annually), finance team, buildings team, garden team, green team, membership and transitions team, equality and diversity team, and a communications team.

 

Women who would like to join the New Ground community can apply to become non-resident members. The only criteria is that they are over 50 years old and share New Ground’s core values. These include acceptance and respect for diversity, care and support for each other, countering ageist stereotypes, co-operating and sharing responsibility, maintaining a structure without hierarchy, and caring for the environment. If a flat becomes available, non-resident members can apply for it, with leasehold flats sold to the next person at market value.

 

The inclusion of social housing in the scheme enables older women from less privileged backgrounds to live in a high-quality affordable home. It also increases the diversity of the community, which includes a mix of sexualities, abilities, heritages, and cultures.

 

Living in a warm home, designed around the needs of older people, gives New Ground’s residents a better quality of life. Older people who live alone can become isolated from their communities, especially if they have mobility problems. The supportive, self-governing nature of co-living keeps residents connected, physically and mentally active, and in charge of their own lives.

 

Environmental sustainability is one of New Ground’s core values. The community has a Climate Resilience Strategy that includes nurturing green spaces to grow fruit and vegetables, composting, rainwater collection and solar panels to generate renewable energy. The homes are double glazed, have efficient underfloor heating systems and were built with insulation that exceeds regulatory requirements to maximise comfort and warmth for residents.

 

In the future, the community hopes to become even greener, by replacing the gas central heating system with either air-source or ground-source heat pumps, increasing the number of solar panels, and building a reservoir beneath the garden to store more rainwater.

 

The total cost of this project is £7,700,000 GBP ($9,524,515 USD) and its total running costs for 2022 were £44,000 GBP ($54,425 USD), which included heating, cleaning and maintenance. These fees are covered by service charges and income generated from New Ground’s internal charges for parking, laundry, guest rooms etc. 

 

New Ground owns the head lease for the building with leasehold flats having 250-year leases. The freehold is held by housing association Housing for Women. 

 

One, two and three-bedroomed flats cost between £380,000 GBP ($470,431 USD) and £480,000 GBP ($594,229 USD). The current leasehold residents paid for their flats through the sale of previous homes, usually downsizing and using the equity from their previous homes to fund the purchase. Moving forward New Ground have ensured that mortgages are available, subject to usual requirements. The Housing Association flats are let at social rent rates, which in London averages out to about £116.16 GBP ($141.85 USD) per week.

 

The primary funders for this project were: 

 

The future running costs of the project will mostly be met by the New Ground Cohousing community. These costs include communal living expenses and maintenance of the buildings (heating, cleaning etc.). However, the community hope to become greener and replace the gas central heating system with either air-source or ground-source heath pumps. They hope to fund this either with public money or crowdfunding.

 

New Ground measures internal impact with the community with the following indicators: 

 

New Ground measures external impact with the following indicators:

New Ground are an entirely self-governing community and so evaluate themselves and their impact at the monthly Community Business Meetings and the Company’s Annual Gathering Meeting. In 2017, when residents moved into the building, they held a five-year review of the project, which assessed pasts performance and strategised about future models and aspirations for the community. They specifically focus on social and financial sustainability. Financial Accounts are prepared by a Chartered Accountant and presented to the Financial Conduct Authority each year, as required by law.

 

New Ground’s members regularly advise other people interested in group living and actively promote cohousing by talking to policymakers and the media and holding workshops. The project has attracted a lot of interest and when it was featured by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company), the community received 400 requests from older women hoping to move in.

 

New Ground has also inspired a growing number of community-led housing developments. In 2016, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Care for Older People recommended that more housing associations support the UK’s senior cohousing movement. The project also influenced the creation of the London Community Housing Fund, which finances new community-led housing schemes.

 

New Ground Cohousing won the prestigious Richard Feilden Housing Design Award in July 2016.

 

This project encountered the following barriers and challenges: 

 

Members tackled a number of these issues through training and workshops to familiarise themselves with the housing world but also learned through exposure and experience in the process. They had ongoing guidance and support from foundations and smaller housing associations, including Housing for Women and Hanover. The support of small housing associations helped significantly with the funding and capital issues, particularly because Hanover front-loaded the development costs before selling the building units to New Ground residents. Once constructed, New Ground members were able to demonstrate a working community-led model to UK policymakers and are often referenced in parliamentary committees and reports.

 

New Ground has received the following visitors, among many others: 

New Ground is interested and already involved in transferring the cohousing model both nationally and abroad. It has continued to host workshops, training, and policy discussions with UK officials, as well as offering mentoring opportunities. The fact the project has not yet scaled up is more a reflection of the regulatory environment than lack of demand. New Ground’s objective is not to expand but to inspire other initiatives. When the project was covered by a BBC short clip, the community received 400 requests from elderly women hoping to move in. New Ground is closely involved with the UK Cohousing Network and publishes knowledge-sharing reports on the structure of its cohousing and the basic tenets for building an intentional community. Members introduce housing professionals and potential co-housing residents to the process, explaining how it works in practice and demonstrating how successful it is. 

 

While the capacity to transfer nationally and internationally depends somewhat on the regulatory environment and local housing conditions, New Ground is committed to promoting the fundamental concept and benefits of an intentional community of older women which is entirely self-governing, non-hierarchical and which combats isolation and loneliness.