Hope Cohousing – a community interest company – is working 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.
Since early in 2024, HCH has been under the umbrella of the Communities Housing Trust (CHT). Backed by the Scottish Government, the Trust is the leading charitable organisation for facilitating community-led housing in central and northern Scotland. When the homes are built, they will be owned, and tenancies allocated, by CHT, whilst the responsibility for day-to-day management will lie with the HCH residents.
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, April 5. Venue: to be confirmed. Contact us if you are thinking of coming or have questions about HCH.
In the news
Hope Cohousing Newsletter – March 2025. Our latest newsletter is now out with lots of news snippets. Click to view. [March 17, 2025]
Local services in Burray and South Ronaldsay. Also new on the website, this page expands our previous listing of services in St Margaret’s Hope to cover both islands and services we had omitted. Please let us know about what we have missed. Click to view. [March 2, 2025]
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. 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]
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.
Burray and South Ronaldsay: Local services. [New and updated]. See, also, the new Exploring South Ronaldsay site.
For more about other cohousing groups in Scotland click on the Cohousing Scotland logo below.
