Hope Cohousing – a community interest company – is working with the Communities Housing Trust to establish a small cohousing project for older people in St Margaret’s Hope, Orkney as a lasting community benefit. There will be six new, eco-aware, affordable rental homes for people wanting to live independently and build a supportive community. It will have shared amenities, a garden….and hens.
Find out more about the project; become a Friend of Hope Cohousing.
Meet-up
Want to discuss the project? Our next monthly get-together will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 1. Venue to be decided. Contact us if you are thinking of coming or have questions about HCH.
In the news
Hope Cohousing was literally in the news. This article (February 17, 2025) has raised interest in what we are up to. As Amanda Hill points out, cohousing is increasingly popular in England, where there are 31 communities, 65 projects in development, and more than 1,000 people signed up to receive advice through the National Cohousing Register. However, there are no completed projects in Scotland. Click to read the piece. [February 17, 2025]
Cohousing Scotland’s February Newsletter. This month’s edition includes an article on A Gathering for Change in Scotland’s Parliament. Two Recommendations emerged from this event: to create a Scottish Framework for Cohousing; and a call to fund ‘the pathfinder project’ – Hope Cohousing in Orkney. It also includes the second part of an interesting article on the Lenzie Project story. Click to read the full newsletter. [February 8, 2025]
Housing Emergency: Community Response. This event focusing on cohousing and community-led housing, took place recently (January 21, 2025) in the Scottish Parliament. Hosted by Ariane Burgess MSP, it was attended by around 40 people in-person (including half a dozen MSPs and – significantly – the Housing Minister) plus 60 or so online. Organised by the charity Cohousing Scotland, one of the key requests made was for the Scottish Government to honour its promise to fund the building of pilot cohousing projects – the first of which would be the Hope Cohousing development in St Margaret’s Hope. A recording of the event will be available soon from cohousing.scot.
The Minister’s Listening Response: In responding to the presentations, Paul McLennan MSP was clear that Cohousing is not something he needs to be convinced of. It’s what we do practically to bring it to fruition, he said. “How do we develop the policy framework?” he asked … “because at the moment it’s not embedded in Scotland and not embedded in local authorities.”
Points that came through for him included:
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getting the role of Cohousing recognised in each Local Housing Strategy is really important.
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he understood what Camilla from Denmark talked about around the support that government can give in planning.
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he knows that finance and the funding is really important. …”We need to make this as easy as possible”, he said. [January 27, 2025]
Newsletter. Our December Newsletter is online. Click to view. [Our next newsletter will be out in March.]
Ageing in place. A new report published by Housing Lin and Ipsos on Older People’s Housing Preferences makes some important points about the direction that policymakers should be taking. In particular, they stress the significance of ageing in place; developing age-appropriate housing options; and addressing barriers to moving and downsizing (what we like to call ‘rightsizing’). Click to download. [December 10, 2024]
A big thank you to everyone who donated to the HCH collection for the Scot Baby Box Appeal and a shout out to Northwards for their support. Good to know all these blankets and warm clothes will get safely to the charity to help children and young people in Ukraine. [November 27, 2024]
Click for more HCH news.
Resources
Featured article: Why cohousing is good for people and communities – the evidence. [Updated January 2024]
Creating a cohousing project: Materials and videos exploring different aspects of putting together a cohousing project.
St Margaret’s Hope: Find out more about the village, local services and attractions.
For more about other cohousing groups in Scotland click on the Cohousing Scotland logo below.
