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.
Meet-up
Want to discuss the project? Our next monthly get-together will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Venue: to be arranged. Contact us if you are thinking of coming or have questions about HCH.
In the news
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]
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]
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: April 29, 2025