The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Island ladies the power behind Scotland’ s first co-housing rental plan
Four years ago a group of friends discussed their changing housing needs as they got older and came up with a unique solution.
Their idea is moving ever closer to reality with the project in St Margaret’s Hope in Orkney now in the pre-construction phase.
The greenfield site will become the Hope Cohousing (HCH) project, Scotland’s only entirely rental co-housing scheme, which could become a model for other rural and island areas.
The six affordable, lowenergy houses, with a shared garden and communal areas for recreational and creative activities, will encourage older residents to live independently.
It will support people to “age positively” while tackling issues including social isolation, loneliness and fuel poverty.
Construction is expected to start next year on the project which was recently awarded more than £48,000 by the Rural Communities Ideas into Action fund.
Its first residents will include the friends whose idea was the catalyst for the development.
Jenny Rambridge, Elli Pearson, Trish Spence and Cath Kirkwood are now directors at HCH. A fifth member of the group, Lesley Livsey, died in September.
Some of the women have been involved in running the village craft cooperative for more than 40 years.
Others established the community garden in St Margaret’s Hope and have also helped organise events in the community hall.
Ms Rambridge said breaking her leg a few years ago prompted her to have a plan for when living in her remote home became a problem.
She said: “We were all in our 60s and 70s and our needs had changed. We were living in houses that were too big, too old or too remote.
“We considered how we should address these problems, taking a lead in resolving them ourselves, before it became a crisis.
“We read about cohousing as a concept and thought it would be a really good way of looking out for each other while living independently.
“It is establishing an intentional community where residents design and manage how they will live in their own homes but together in a supported network.”
HCH was formed in 2019, a year after the concept was discussed. The project then progressed with the help of Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and Robert Gordon University (RGU).
Work continued during the pandemic, with lockdown further highlighting issues.
“Isolation during Covid was a big problem for older people who were already vulnerable to social isolation and in danger of being stranded in the community,” she said.
“This is one of the problems we are hoping to address.”
An Age Scotland housing survey showed Orkney’s population is ageing faster than the rest of Scotland.
It is forecast that by 2024, 30% of the population will be of pensionable age, against a Scottish average of 23%.
The Centre for Ageing Better also says there are almost 12 million people aged 65 and over in the UK, with 3.2 million aged 80 and over.
Affordability is another crucial aspect of the Hope Cohousing project as house prices in rural and island areas have increased, partly due to a rise in second and holiday homes.
Councillor Gwenda Shearer, chair of OIC’s education, leisure and housing committee, said: “The project is a great example of a determined group of people coming together with the germ of an idea and then developing that into the innovative project we see now.”
Communities Housing Trust CEO Ronnie MacRae added: “We’re keen to support co-housing as yet another alternative tenure to help make rural communities viable.”