What is cohousing?
A form of group living set up and run by the people who live in it. Occupants subscribe to a set of defined values and aims; they enjoy their own accommodation, personal space and privacy, but in addition have common areas in which to meet and share joint activities. The aim is to promote neighbourliness, combat isolation and offer mutual support; residents will also be encouraged to become involved with the local community. New Ground is not in any way sheltered housing, nor a gated retirement community cut off from the outside world.
Our values are:
Acceptance and respect for diversity
Care and support for each other
Providing a balance between privacy and community
Countering ageist stereotypes
Co-operating and sharing responsibility
Maintaining a structure without hierarchy
Caring for the environment
Being part of the wider community
New Ground Cohousing
Is a development of 25 self contained flats with shared communal facilities and gardens, managed on cohousing principles. It consists of 11 one-bed, 11 two-bed and 3 three-bed room flats plus a common room, guest room, laundry and attractive gardens. 17 flats are owned by their occupants on 250- year leases; 8 are for social renters on assured tenancies and are managed by us and Housing for Women.
Membership
Only women aged 50+ years, who become members of OWCH (Barnet) Ltd, may live at New Ground Cohousing, but visitors of any age or gender are welcome.
The Company reserves the right to select new members according to the needs of the group at any one time. Tenants for the social rental units are selected by the group in accordance with standard eligibility criteria agreed with Housing for Women and the Tudor Trust.
New Ground maintains a limited number of non-resident members, who are encouraged to be actively involved with the community and who are potential residents as and when a vacancy occurs. Membership involves a process of mutual agreement and commitment to the core values of the group. Our current non-resident members are women who would be interested in, and eligible for, either social housing or a leasehold flat. However, as there has been no turnover since we moved into New Ground in 2016 and we already have several non-resident members, it has been decided to temporarily suspend applications for non-resident membership.
We have launched a Friends of New Ground initiative. There is a programme of events designed to share more widely the benefits and lessons of cohousing plus social events. There is a Friends web page https://newgroundcohousing.uk/friends which is a portal for circulating news and details of events. There is also a section for registering your interest in becoming a friend.
How New Ground is managed
OWCH (Barnet) Ltd is a fully mutual company, with an elected management committee, and its decisions are made by New Grounders via a monthly meeting. One of a number of policies agreed by New Ground concerns mutual support. The group undertakes ‘to look out for rather than look after each other’. Where an individual has care needs, she is expected to have arrangements in place to meet them. Everyone is expected to contribute insofar as she can and the New Ground community cares for the development and the group’s life together through a series of small work teams, such as for cleaning, gardening, finance, membership, communications and so on. We meet fortnightly for communal meals