What is Cohousing?

Cohousing is a housing community where the cars are parked on the periphery, each household has a self-contained house and people eat together and meet regularly in the large communal house. The original members will have designed the community and decision making is by consensus. The buildings will be super-insulated, low polluting and energy saving in design. David is the project coordinator and managing director of the Cohousing Company Ltd.

People need community and privacy. Cohousing is a way for people to live together so that they can have as much community and privacy as they want. The concept is simple and immediately comprehensible. It is the way forward for human beings to live together in a safe, independent and caring neighbourhood. It is a revolution that is beginning now. We will no longer just choose a new house when we move, we will join a new community.

Cohousing started in Denmark in the 1970’s. Possibly as much as 1% of the Danish population now live in Cohousing! It is becoming popular in the USA where there are now over 30 cohousing communities and more starting. The term Cohousing was coined by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett in their book Cohousing, a contemporary approach to modern living, first published in 1994.

Check out the Cohousing Network site www.cohousing.org - it’s essentially American and very good.