The London Countryside Cohousing Group ('LoCo') began four years ago with seven friends and now comprises thirteen people, including several couples, mostly friends and friends of friends, some from south London but mostly north-east Londoners aiming to set up a community which will be mutually supportive as we get older and which will enable us to live in a more sustainable way than we do now.

So far we're all 50-60ish, professionals — academic, education, social work, architects (one who builds energy-efficient housing in a big way), musicians, a painter – now formally constituted as a non-profit company limited by guarantee, of which all members are directors, and actively researching sites to purchase within 90 miles/minutes of London. We're also, with professional help, grasping the nettle of how much money we collectively have/need for the project and what mechanisms we'll need to invest it safely.

We plan to build a community of at least 25-30 people, probably in two phases starting with ourselves, and hope to raise short-term loans to cover a substantial portion of our development costs. These loans will be repaid when we move into our new LoCo homes and sell our existing properties. (All core members are home owners. This is not a requirement, though new members joining during phase one will have to contribute a substantial capital sum.)

We have no particular collective philosophy, but all wish to respect each other's independence and operate democratically and sensitively, by consensus where possible (see our Principles and Values, page 3). Our aim is to build a sustainable and interesting community that is not 'clique-y' in any way.

We are planning for either a mix of renovation and new build, or complete new-build on a minimum 1 acre site also offering e.g. some woodland, space for veg plots etc. We all want our own independent living accommodation (most probably on long lease, but some rented), plus communal facilities, dining/meeting room, creative space and so on. We plan to have some rented accommodation available for carers in our old age, thus making shared support available in our own homes and reducing our dependence on institutions.

We meet monthly, while our three sub-groups: finance, legal and location may meet more often. We have much expertise within the group, including two architects and others with project, business and senior management experience. Newcomers are welcome to some of our full meetings, and we currently have a number of people interested in joining us.

We are being considered by the UK Cohousing Network for a flagship project in cohousing for older people in a nationwide pump-priming scheme for which the Network has been shortlisted for a grant from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). If they win the grant, this could give us access to a very wide range of professional support and monitoring.

For more information, visit London Countryside Cohousing's own website.

Or contact: Barbara Simpkins, Chair
barb...@btinternet.com (click on the three dots to the left of the @ to get full email address)