The new COMMUNAL LIVING

Discover the trend for cohousing

- ALICE GREBOT

Ever thought about living with your friends? Sharing the weekly shop or babysitting duties with them?

If you have, then cohousing may be for you – and it’s a far cry from the hippy communes of old. Made up of private homes, with shared spaces and facilities, residents come together to manage their community and take part in a wide range of activities – everything from film clubs to growing their own vegetables.

Some of the 19 established cohousing communities in the UK are inter-generational, while others are for the over-50s, for women, or eco-focused.

Here’s one couple who liked the idea of communal living and took the plunge.

‘Its a vibrant, diverse community’