Life in the Slow Lane
Resident and long term cohousing pioneer Hugh King from Bridport Community Cohousing regularly sends us beautiful photographs of life at their project, which we've been involved with as architects for 12 years now! The site had its official opening a few weeks ago, and residents have been continuing to move into the 53 affordable homes across the site which is now very nearly complete at long, long last! In his most recent correspondence with us he sent photos of a wedding celebration of two residents happening on the car free street outside their house! His caption "this is how to live life well" is so, so true. Congratulations to them all!
Many people dream of building their own home, but what residents of Bridport Cohousing Community Land Trust have done is more than that. Not only have they designed, commissioned, and overseen the building of their own homes, but they have built community too. Friends, neighbours, connections and support networks that make life richer and more enjoyable for everyone. They are currently self-building an amazing low-impact, ecological common house to support their community. We're helping to oversee the delivery of this final part of the project, and look forward to sharing more news soon. It's a real hands-on approach that is amazing to see coming to life with straw, local timber and low impact foundations.
It is inspiring to see that with enough courage, conviction and commitment, a group of local people with no development expertise could pull off such an extraordinary achievement. It is a truly radical project, with a construction value of well over £10 million, that they have orchestrated, led, lived, loved, and indeed hated at times I am sure. Initially securing a purchase option on the land they began developing a vision for the site almost 15 years ago. It included car free streets, low carbon design, within mutually supportive cohousing. An inclusive community with a range of homes and facilities to suit a variety of households some of whom were as yet unknown. It needed to be somewhere special, and worthy of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) it sits within as part of West Dorset's extraordinary landscape.
With significant grant funding from many different streams, including Homes England, Dorset Council, Bournemouth Churches Housing Association and others, they have drawn in capital investment over different phases to enable this project to happen. Incredibly, one Christmas they crowdfunded the purchase of the land, which, as a Community Land Trust (CLT) they will now own in perpetuity - collecting a ground rent which helps to provide financial stability to the entire operation. This model secures the homes to be truly affordable forever, or as long as they, and the CLT still exists. This model is a powerful example for a radically different future for housing that changes the economic dynamics of land and home ownership profoundly.
These photographs are an incredible testament to what life can look like when we put people in charge of planning and design. We always referred to the project as being 'a place to grow'. And truly it is. The growth of the town, of the individual people living there, their community, and the plants, vegetables, and food they are now producing within the streets, gardens and land that they are proud custodian owners of.
We need more examples like this across our towns, villages, cities and country that show how housing can be a powerful force for good. With projects like this, we can create a new beginning for the design of our places that can profoundly impact people's lives, health and happiness. Projects like this truly transform the way people like Hugh and his friends and neighbours live.
If you're as inspired by them as we are, and want to start a cohousing project of any size, a Community Land Trust, or a community led housing project, dont hesitate to get in touch, and we'd love to come along the journey with you, barefoot; with our feet on the ground and our heads in the sky.
Some relevant Links for a deeper dive into a few of the connections that supported the project:
UK Cohousing Network, Bridport Cohousing CLT, the Community Land Trust Network, Community Led Homes, Homes England, Bournemouth Churches Housing Association, Ethex funding platform, Wessex Community Assets, 'Those Little Connections': Community-led housing and loneliness report