Consultancy
for Community Housing Projects
I offer a range of support for resident groups and professional teams working on community housing schemes, including cohousing, eco-villages, Community Land Trusts and others.
This support can be a one-off training or assessment process, or ongoing support to guide a project through its key formative stages. I have a range of associates with excellent relevant experience who can form part of an ongoing team.
The challenges of bringing community housing projects to fruition are legendary. Many residents give up after several years' good work. Most housing professionals are wary of 'group projects'. And those schemes which do complete usually have a long and difficult gestation.
The whole process can be eased greatly by using a professional enabler who is independent of both the resident group and a development partner: this could be a housing association or private developer. Some of the main roles which an enabler such as myself can play are:
For Residents:
a. Training in property development and finance for community housing.
b. Understanding how cohousing works (on human and logistical levels).
c. Group process skills (communication, decision making, conflict resolution etc).
d. Creating and agreeing resident policies (leases, constitution, etc).
e. Networking and promotion within local community, including lobbying for support for planning application.
f. Recruitment, screening and training of additional residents.
For Housing Professionals (eg. Housing Association, private developer):
a. Understanding cohousing, gaining internal support.
b. Creating new skills, eg. partnership working with resident group.
c. Varying internal procedures and renegotiating external requirements to fit cohousing model.
d. Pioneering new legal, contractual, financial structures.
e. For some projects, recruiting a resident group where the development partner already has a site.
For the Project:
a. Recruiting suitable partners, eg. finding the residents or developer partner, and brokering an appropriate development structure.
b. Advocacy and negotiation with planning authority (because cohousing is a unique new category).
c. Helping recruit, brief and support other professionals, eg. architect, main contractor etc.
d. Helping to secure additional funding sources, eg. grants for initial costs.
For further information or to discuss things, email Alan at:
NEXT: The Threshold Centre
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