Cohabiting through Shared Ownership

I have spent several years thinking about Cohousing projects and I’ve been part of two of them. However, I have decided now that the best type of communal living for me will be to think smaller and simpler and join together with a few others to buy, and share, a large house. I am forming a group to do this in West London.

I’ve come to this decision partly because most traditional Cohousing projects take an inordinately long time to come to fruition. Many never do so, particularly in London. Often, after many years of group discussion and failed attempts to find acceptable sites, they either give up or move out of London.

It’s also because, having lived in a couple of shared rentals, I have found that a decent sized bed-sitting room with an en suite bathroom is sufficient individual space for me. I am happy to share a kitchen and dining area, plus any other shared facilities the group decides upon. I don’t need the self-contained individual unit which most Cohousing schemes attempt to build and I no longer have the patience for the endless discussions about how the group will govern its life, should it ever find a site.

So my proposal isn’t Cohousing as it has come to be generally understood, nor is it quite a Commune. It’s not an ‘Intentional Community’ built around a particular ideology. It’s just a group of people who value their independence but who don’t want to live entirely alone.

It’s probably most like a shared student house – except that most residents will be older than the average student and most, although not necessarily all, will want to own their share rather than rent it. Clearly they will need to be a group of people who get on reasonably well together, but that is by no means the same thing as being a group of similar people.

I don’t believe that compatibility can be achieved by setting out a list of characteristics – age, interests etc. Instead, potential group members need to meet, talk, exchange ideas and get to know each other. They will discuss how much individual space they want and can afford – shares in the house don’t have to be equal. They will also discuss what facilities they want, and can afford, to share.

Certain basic things will need to be decided. For instance, I don’t expect a scheme like this to be aimed at families, but does that mean a ‘no children’ rule? And what about pets? Personally, I wouldn’t want to set anything in stone at the start – rather, each group will decide on such things as they come together. The important thing is that they don’t go on discussing them for too long!

Depending on the size of the group, members may decide to use a Mutual Shared Ownership scheme for the purchase, a format now well-established in Cohousing circles. If there are members of the group who prefer to rent all or part of their share it may be possible to apply for a mortgage.

Put crudely, the people who have capital would provide the deposit while those who have little or none would contribute monthly to pay off the mortgage. It may even be possible for those people to build up some share of the equity, as is currently being done in a variety of existing communal living projects. Alternatively the group may decide to keep it simpler still – those who are buying the house will become Tenants in Common and, perhaps, rent out a room or two.

The crucial ingredient for success, apart from compatibility, will be that there is a core group of people who have sufficient equity between them to afford the house. They will also need to be able to liquidate enough money sufficiently quickly for house-hunting to begin.

I’ll keep Cohabitas updated about how this works out in practice as my group attempts to do it!

Gill Chapman