House for sale in the Community Project, East Sussex

A four-bed roomed house, part of a 1930s villa, in a co-housing project set in 24 acres of land in Sussex countryside bordering the South Downs and within six miles of Lewes. This is a chance to live in a more neighbourly way with lots of opportunity for developing creative projects, making new friends, and bringing up children in an open, caring and creative environment. The site includes a meadow, woodland, a communal building with a hall, dining room, kitchen and guest rooms, vegetable plots, a polytunnel, chickens and horses. For information about the Community Project please see below or visit the Community Project group page here on the UK Cohousing Network website.

Price £499,995

Ground floor. Entrance off shared courtyard to: Entrance hall 3.5 x3.8 m, WC. Solid oak wood floor throughout ground floor. The property is double glazed throughout. Glazed door to: Large utility room, 4.4 x 3.8 m, sink and work tops, space for bicycles, washing machine, clothes drying, freezer, and workbench, ample storage and door to gardens. This room could be used as a separate dining room or study.

Internal French windows to: Double aspect spacious open plan living area. Sitting room space, 5.4 x 4.8, Morso wood burning stove, and French windows to gardens. Kitchen and dining area 4 .0 x 3.5 m, artist’s tiles, 5 ring gas hob, electric double oven.

First floor. Bespoke open tread oak staircase to spacious landing with loft ladder access to attic, mostly boarded. Bathroom, separate WC, immersion heater, small storage cupboard. Apart from WC and bedroom 4 all first floor has original 1930s solid mahogany parquet flooring. Bedroom doors are glazed.
Bedroom 1. Double aspect, 4.4 x 4.8 m, including study area, recess for fitted wardrobes and ensuite bathroom. Views of South Downs and gardens.

Bedroom 2, 3.2 x 3.8 m, recess for fitted wardrobe, views of South Downs. Currently used as an office. Bedroom 3, 2.9 x 3.5 m, recess for fitted wardrobe, overlooking gardens. Bedroom 4, 2.6 x 3.7 m, small recess for fitted wardrobe, overlooking courtyard.

Outside. Terraced areas leading to lawns, flower beds and fruit trees. Share of garden shed.

Contacting us
If you are interested in joining us we suggest you read our information pack which details our history and organisation, visit the Community Project group page here . To find out more about the property and to arrange a visit you can contact the vendors Angela Rogers and Chris Ettridge on 01323 815725/07747 001774, email ang...@laughtonlodge.org or chr...@laughtonlodge.org (Click on the three dots to the left of the @ for full email address) or Ravi Sawney, rav...@uk2.net or Lucy Morgan-Jones l...@laughtonlodge.org
Purchasing a House or Flat within the Community Project - Notes for purchasers
The Community Project is a group of people who have jointly purchased a hospital and converted it into individual houses and flats. Three large 1930s buildings have been converted into 17 homes and 4 new houses have been built. The 25 acres of land and a few other buildings provide communal facilities for the group. There is no specific ideology that defines the group and whilst maintaining the privacy of individual homes we aim to live co-operatively as neighbours, jointly managing the land and communal facilities to foster an enjoyable, supportive community environment. As an intentional community our leases and organisation have been developed with that aim in mind. This means that purchasing a flat or house within the project differs from an ordinary house purchase, as you are not only buying a property but also becoming a member of a community. We hope the following helps explain the process.
Purchasing a property
You purchase property leasehold on a very long lease. Mortgages can be obtained in the normal way. On purchase you become a Director of the Community Project Ltd. which holds the freehold of the land and all the buildings. All the land is owned communally but people create gardens and patios outside their homes.
The lease is very particular to the CP and as such probably more restrictive than usual (for example, the process for selling the property is detailed in the lease). You may want to warn your solicitor of this.
The CP maintains the fabric of the property you are purchasing, and all the maintenance of the communal buildings and the land, a monthly service charge payable to the CP covers this. The management of the residential and communal buildings is undertaken by the residents directly, we do not use an external management company.
Finding out about the Community Project
We invite you to come and see us working and socialising as a group at a regular ‘pot-luck’ supper (Friday nights), a work day (1st Sunday in the month) and at a monthly business meeting. We strongly recommend that you come to an information session on the legal and financial structure of the Community Project. In case people don’t get the chance to meet you it’s helpful if you send in some information about yourself/your family, no more than 1 side of A4, whilst we are getting to know each other.