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. Six new, eco-aware, affordable rental homes will be built for people wanting to live independently and build a supportive community. The project will have shared amenities, a garden….and chickens.
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 by CHT. 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.
Meetings
Want to discuss the project? Our next monthly get-together will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 7. Venue: Stromness Community Association. Contact us if you are thinking of coming or have questions about HCH.
The Hope Cohousing AGM is on Wednesday, 21 May 2025, starting at 2 pm. It will include consideration of and agreement to some changes to the Articles of Association [click to view]. Venue: The Marengo Centre, St Margaret’s Hope.
In the news
A visitor from OWCH: We were very pleased to welcome Rachel Douglas from OWCH (Older Women’s Co-Housing), a landmark cohousing initiative based in North London. It took them nearly 16 years to realise their vision (it finally opened in 2016), and they have been an inspiration to us – and to many others in the cohousing field. It was fascinating to hear Rachel talk about the development and what they have learnt about developing, organising and managing a project like this [May 19, 2025].
Ariane Burgess on cohousing: Writing in The Orcadian [May 8, 2025], the Highlands and Islands Green MSP reports on the work she is undertaking on the current Housing Bill to place a greater emphasis on alternative housing approaches such as cohousing, co-operatives, and community land trusts. For example, she hosted a well-attended event focused on cohousing in the Scottish Parliament that included the housing minister and a number of MSPs. She highlights Hope Cohousing’s vision of building homes that meet local needs.
A future living among friends: A great piece about Hope Cohousing has just appeared in The Scotsman (05.05.2025). Written by Rob Aberdein, it argues that social isolation and the housing crisis are ‘being tackled in a bold housing experiment in Orkney’. He concludes that we are more than a housing project:
it’s a proof of concept for a different way of living in Scotland. If successful, it could influence planners, policymakers, and other rural communities to embrace co-housing as part of the solution to Scotland’s ongoing ‘housing crisis’.
You can find the article online in The Scotsman.
A lot in common: Rowan Moore has written a fascinating article in The Observer about Bridport Cohousing – the largest cohousing development in the UK. It has 53 affordable, sustainable homes, just under half of which are rented. Click to read. [May 4, 2025]
Rhoda Grant, the Regional MSP for the Highlands and Islands, visited us to learn more about cohousing and to explore Hope Cohousing’s focus on properly affordable, rental housing and the lessons for other projects in the Highlands and Islands. We met in the Cromarty Hall and visited the site next to Taftingus Place. Rhoda raised some interesting points with us about how we take things forward. [April 15, 2025]
The Climate Hub: We were also pleased to welcome Francesca Perotti to St Margaret’s Hope and Hope Cohousing. Francesca is the Community Development Officer for Orkney Highlands and Islands Climate Hub CIC. The hub supports community-led climate action across the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland. HCH has paid a lot of attention to making sure the new houses are environmentally friendly, and Francesca was able to point us towards further steps we could be taking. Click for more on the Climate Hub. [April 3, 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 the development of cohousing in Scotland, click on the Cohousing Scotland logo below.
updated: May 19, 2025