Getting started

The project began with one couple who had a vision of a different type of lifestyle. They did some initial research and gradually became aware of a wide spectrum of existing communities. Some shared much more than others, the most "communal" pooling all of their income, working together and sharing meals. Some were very isolated, whereas in others the majority of members had full-time jobs outside their communities. They wrote to and visited communities which seemed closest to their own idea of fostering a closer and more co-operative way of living with other people, while retaining some personal privacy. Each visit helped to shape their ideas and one particular community closely resembled the format they were thinking of. However, they found nothing that exactly corresponded to their ideas, situated within commuting distance from London, a necessary location if they were to retain their careers. They shared their ideas with some friends and a small group of interested people formed. This group met for a year, honing the ideas and documenting them. Five members of this group live at Laughton Lodge today, but it took 6 years to get there!

It was envisaged that the project would consist of around 15 households. The broader the capital base, the greater the stability of the community. Below a certain size, the project is vulnerable to the departure of any one member, and there can also be undue pressure on relationships. It became apparent that it would not be possible for the small group to finance the purchase of a large enough property and so an advertisement was put in The Guardian seeking people to join them. Over 70 people responded and of those, a few committed themselves to the project. There were no entry qualifications; people selected themselves if they thought the ideas suited them. Over the course of the next 5 years, a further advert was placed, the group had an entry in "Diggers and Dreamers" and others joined through personal contact. Some dropped out along the way, but most stayed the course, despite the fact that it took very much longer than anyone ever envisaged to get to first base, i.e. moving in to the new homes and starting to live as a community.

Managing the project

While looking for an appropriate property to purchase, the group met monthly to talk about its philosophy, sort out legal issues and discuss ways of financing the project. Much work was done in between meetings and during periods of high pressure the group met weekly. A small executive team also met weekly to manage the details of the project, and to provide information for the main group which, acting by consensus, made all the big decisions. The majority of the members of the project had full-time jobs, all had busy lives and many had small children. While not living together, through meeting and working together, and with the odd party thrown in along the way, the community was already starting to form, and became closely bound together. This undoubtedly helped the group to persevere during the development phase and to weather the many disappointments along the way.

Finding a property

It took 3 years to find an appropriate property. There were a number of unsuccessful attempts to purchase properties. The group found it difficult to compete financially with property developers. Large properties in the South East were inevitably extremely expensive on the whole. It became clear that although it would be lovely to live in a beautiful old manor house, a rather more functional institution was more likely to be within the group's price range. Estate agents and organisations owning properties such as old schools and hospitals were systematically contacted. Eventually, Laughton Lodge, a former hospital, was found, and the process of surveying it and costing up the conversion to determine whether it was financially viable was started. It was ideal in many ways - large enough to accommodate everyone, with additional buildings for communal use and enough land to be exciting without being too daunting. Although the buildings were rather institutional, they had the advantage of being uniform and so relatively easy to divide into individual living spaces, without too much inequity between the units in terms of desirability. However, the cost of converting the buildings was prohibitive and so the building of a few additional homes on the site was necessary to make the project viable.

Obtaining planning permission for the conversion of the buildings and the building of 4 new homes took a year. The local planning policy was to allow no new build in the area and so the 4 new homes were controversial. There was local opposition, due to understandable suspicion as to exactly what this "community project" was. However, eventually planning permission was granted and the group purchased the site. There were a further few months of negotiation on the price and then several more months of sorting out the building tender. The builders finally started the conversion of the buildings in 1998 and families started to move into their new homes in early 1999, almost 3 years after first visiting Laughton Lodge.

Financing the project

In order to finance the project, members loaned as much as they could. Some had capital to contribute, while others raised money in various ways, such as increasing their mortgages, borrowing from friends and family or even selling their homes. These loans acted as down-payments towards their new homes in the community, although some people put in more money than their home was likely to cost. The group was careful to ensure that legal structures, such as loan agreements, were put in place, nonetheless, people took considerable risks with all that they owned. Without a proven track record in property development, it took some time for the group to find an additional source of funding. Eventually, Triodos bank, which lends to social projects, agreed to a loan. By pooling their assets the group was able to purchase the Laughton Lodge site, but to undertake the conversion work (costing well over a million pounds) the backup of a loan agreement was essential. As it turned out, the group never had to draw down any of the loan from the bank. As the building work progressed, members were starting to sell their homes and although not done to a carefully organised plan, it so happened that as each phase of the work needed to be paid for, there was enough money in the project to do so. Each family purchased their lease as their new home became ready, although the final prices were only worked out once the development phase was complete.

Moving in

Throughout 1999, members of the project moved into their new homes. They still needed to fit kitchens, lay floors/carpets and do all internal decorating. The 4 new houses needed to be designed and the building tendered for. A start could be made on taking in hand and developing the 23 acres of land and refurbishing the communal buildings. Most importantly, the real work of learning to live as a community could begin.

Where are we now

We are still at quite an early stage of our community project. During the 9 years of the "development phase" the group began to operate as a community, but we recognise that we have much to learn about living together, making decisions together and achieving an appropriate balance between the needs of individuals and the needs of the group. This is part of the challenge of living truly as a community, rather than a group of neighbours, and we expect that we will continue to develop as a group for many years to come. In terms of practical plans, we have established a vegetable patch and poly tunnel, we have landscaped the areas around the houses and have undertaken a considerable amount of planting around the site, including an orchard. Shawfield has been partly refurbished with a dining room, kitchen, office suite, games room, childrens room and the next priorities are the guest rooms and toilets which currently leave a lot to be desired.

Several years into the development of the project, it became apparent that it resembled projects within the co-housing movement, which, while very young in the UK, is more established in Scandinavia and the US. There are a number of nascent co-housing groups currently in the UK, which are linked by an Internet network. It is hoped that in the years to come, there will be many co-housing communities scattered throughout the country.

KEY ISSUES STILL TO BE ADDRESSED

We feel we have achieved a great deal and the uncertainties of the search and development phase seem a distant memory. However, there are many aspects of community life which still need improvement. They include:

Sustainability

Some ambitious hopes for recycling and environmental sustainability had to be dropped or at least delayed due to cost, Plans for solar heating, grey water recycling and a reedbed sewage system were dropped but may be revisited in the future. We do, however, have a district heating system using a woodchip burner with an oil boiler as a back-up. We have our own water supply (bore hole) and our own telecommunications installation - an ISDN telephone & LAN. All internal calls are free. Decisions on double glazing were made by members on a house-by-house basis. The location of our communal house, Shawfield, militates against use of communal facilities such as a laundry although this does have some uptake. Although we do not yet have a formal system of car pooling, a considerable amount of car sharing takes place informally and this is set to increase. There are management and work issues associated with some of the environmentally friendly elements of the project, and we have a Eco Group that aims to find ways of reducing our carbon footprint by encouragingus to make changes both individually and collectively

Keeping the site tidy

There tends to be a creeping accumulation of clutter in public spaces, both indoors and out. Our 23 acres are better looked after now than 9 years ago but junk still tends to gather outside and inside the common areas. We often blitz them on our work days but they pile up again within a few weeks. Also children's toys, remnants of encampments and bikes tend to be left around the site. We are still working on developing ground rules and arrangements for clearing up.

Sharing the work

Everyone is expected to try to attend monthly main group meetings, monthly workdays and join at least one subgroup. Sometimes it appears as if some people are much more active than others. However, we have found that we can't and don't want to make community work compulsory. Also, it can be easy to overlook some forms of contribution and the changing pressures in peoples' lives means the time and energy available for the project fluctuates accordingly. At the end of the day, individuals choose how much they are prepared to do to maintain the community.

Consensus and conflict

Although visitors and new members often complement us on the way we conduct meetings, we know we must find ways to improve the way we reach decisions. Being able to have robust discussions with opposing points of view without personalising, bullying, emotional blackmail or ridiculing is something we are still struggling with.

Conflict management is one of the most difficult issues for the project. We hold occasional half day forums for more exploration of feelings and vision. Without this conflicts can undermine other group processes. Most difficulties are about the relation between the individual and the community - which not surprisingly reflects a core conflict in society as a whole. Many conflicts in the project arise from a tension between ones responsibility towards the group versus ones' individual needs and motivations. They are often about the public / private issues for example: personal use of land, personal responsibility for parts of land and negotiation with neighbours.

We currently use informal consensus decision making although we have experimented with a number of techniques. We have discussed the possibility of getting group training in the Formal Consensus method.

Financial constraints

It is necessary to take individuals' financial circumstances into account when taking collective decisions about expenditure. We try to avoid putting people under pressure to agree to spend money while not holding back those who would like to spend more to improve the land or communal facilities. Further experience is needed in how to balance these factors.

Use of email

The use of email within the community project has exploded over the last few years in common with the rest of the UK . Everyone is online. This saves time on meetings and telephone calls and is highly effective for information sharing. We have learnt however that it can be abused and that consultation via email has its dangers. It is now recognised that sensitive matters need to be handled face to face and we try to maintain email etiquette.

More focus on interpersonal relationships

We want to develop ways of communicating feelings and sharing hopes and vision. Although there is uncertainty about how best to approach this there is widespread recognition that greater understanding of each others core values and aspirations will deepen relationships and help us when conflicts arise.

Involving the children

We want to find ways of involving the children more fully in projects and in communal work. This is so that they can exert more influence over the development of the project and share responsibility for looking after it.

Management of budgets and resources

We are still experimenting with the correct balance between responsible management versus too much bureaucracy.

Keeping the impetus

After the hard grind and excitement of setting the project up and moving in some of the excitement and closeness could disappear. Some are worried that we could lose the impetus and vision and end up just being good neighbours. This is something we are exploring.

LESSONS LEARNT

• Do not underestimate the level of commitment required nor how long it takes to set up a co-housing project. And do not underestimate how much work and time is needed from each member to keep it going.
• A different balance of ages and family structures might be desirable. It might be a good idea to aim for a wider age range and type of household. It could be argued that households without young children, -particularly single people and older people - arecurrently slightly less well catered for as they are in the minority. More childless households, or households with older children, might lead to more community activities and organisational structures specifically designed around the interests of adults, older children or older people. However, it is recognised that any minority may feel somewhat disadvantaged. The overall aim should be to try to get a balance.
• Everything takes time with 30 + adults involved.
• Recognise that the experience of living together may be quite different from how one would imagine it. Think carefully about how building and design will accommodate differing needs for privacy and communality both indoors and out.
• Dividing the cost of units into core and extras was a good invention and may be useful for other groups. We devised a successful system for splitting the cost of each person's unit into core costs and extras. The core cost was the cost of the shell and the extras were everything on top of this including lighting, doors, built-in cupboards, double glazing etc. This allowed for varying financial circumstances of individuals - gold taps for the wealthy or from a boot sale for those on a tight budget!

SUCCESSES AND STRENGTHS

The four newbuild houses, which won an award for eco design, are now built and the interminable development phase is becoming a distant memory.

Our calendar of social and cultural activities is amazingly rich and grows each year. It currently includes the Christmas cabaret, summer party, theatre performances, film nights, salsa lessons, youth club, dance classes, annual week long summer activities programme for young people, singing group, annual French cycling holiday. Many of these activities are open to the local community.

We are now integrated into village life. After initial suspicion from some people in the locality, Community Project members are now welcomed. We are represented on the local school governing boards, on the village shop committee, the parish council and we play a significant part in the life of the village.

We are contacted by individuals and groups all round the country and abroad for information and advice about how to start a co-housing project. We have run some successful co-housing workshops and we are greatly encouraged by the recognition given for what we have achieved.

We are really just at the beginning of our community project. During the 7 years of the "development phase" the group began to operate as a community, but we recognise that we have much to learn about living together, making decisions together and achieving an appropriate balance between the needs of individuals and the needs of the group. This is part of the challenge of living truly as a community, rather than a group of neighbours, and we expect that we will continue to develop as a group for many years to come.

QUOTES

A few things people have said about living here:

• "We should not underestimate how much we have learned to deal with different opinions.
• Many of us have made U turns. While living in a 'me' centred society most of us learned how relative our own opinions are. I think these things have major effects on our identities. You learn to distinguish in a very short time what is important to you and what is not."
• the best thing about community is the people and the worst thing about community is - the people
• Life here is characterised by caring support, friendliness, too many meetings, challenging disagreements, exciting and stimulating ideas and opportunities. It's exhausting and demanding but really enjoyable too.
• Living with respect for diversity and individual private space, while at the same time having a commitment to the wellbeing of the group and the property we share. Sometimes I feel it is a challenge to balance my commitment to self, family, work and community but they are all an integral part of my life, and I consider myself very lucky to be part of this adventurous project.
• I remain unreconstructedly proud of the achievement of changing some knackered old hospital buildings into a what, aside from our e-mail wars, strikes me as a decent place to live - a settlement that makes quite a considerable contribution to rethinking the ways in which people interact with their environment.

Sarah Berger and Lucy Morgan-Jones
On behalf of the Community Project