SpringHill Co-housing

Springhill Co-housing is the first new build co-housing scheme in the UK, it includes 35 private houses and flats. Based on the Danish model, co-housing is a form of collaborative housing that aims to create a real sense of community and achieve true social and environmental sustainability. Like all co-housing communities, Springhill Community was intentionally formed. The scheme has been planned, owned and managed by the residents who share activities like cooking, eating together, childcare, gardening and administration. The residents of Springhill became equal directors of the company undertaking the development, and remain as directors of the company owning the freehold of the site. They each individually own the leasehold of their house or flat.

The project effectively falls outside the standard ways of housing provision in the UK being developed by neither a social landlord nor a private developer. It brings control of housing back to the residents, enabling them to develop and shape their own destiny, at the same time as building vibrant, strong, sustainable communities. The project has developed a new housing typology, based on the principles of co-housing, including: The whole site is pedestrian and child friendly, with cars kept to one edge; Outdoor space is shared and communal, with no private gardens; A shared common house at the heart, where meals are cooked and shared three evenings each week, together with other facilities including workshops and a playroom; A car share scheme and bulk buying of organic food.