Meet the residents of York’s first co-operative housing scheme

For many, the idea of a co-operative housing scheme where neighbours share childcare, chores and cars seems like an idealistic way of living.

Yet this model has become a reality in York, where the 14 homes that make up the first phase of community housing development Yorspace are close to completion.

Among the first residents will be Sophia, whose young family travelled the country looking for a home that was eco-friendly enough to settle in.

She said: “Once our son was born, it was then a case of how are we going to thrive and live as a family in the face of the climate crisis. We left York – it’s a very expensive city, and we were looking for these co-housing communities across the country.”

They applied to join Yorspace, close to their old house in Acomb, just 24 hours after hearing about the scheme.

The units are all built to high standards of energy efficiency and will remain “permanently affordable” by being kept off the open market. They will be fully occupied later in the autumn.

Sophia added: “They say it takes a village to raise a family – and we have found our village. We won’t be having another child, but there are loads of kids under five here, so are really excited about him having sibling-like relationships.

“It’s built to a really high standard. Good insulation, low bills. We’ve signed up to car-sharing, shared childminding. Trying to figure it out together is what I’m really excited about; co-parenting in a broader definition of that term.

“It’s a dream come true. Back to the city where our son was born, where we made the decision to have him, back to a city we love.”

The land is wholly owned by Yorspace, which bought it from City of York Council, meaning the site is protected from the open market.

In turn, that means the homes that are built there – and owned by the Lowfield Green housing co-operative – will always stay at 70% of their market value.

To decide who lives there, Yorspace developed an allocation policy with the council, which is firstly based on a connection with the city and the applicant’s level of housing need.

From there, people applying to join the community took part in a process designed to assess them against the co-operative’s “values and approach to life.”

Current membership stands at 26 adults and 13 children.

That ethos includes sharing cars, childcare duties and everyday items, like tools and gardening equipment.

The residents have invested in a shared set of solar panels, through which they plan to act as their own energy supplier, and they are clubbing together to buy a cargo bike and trailer for weekly shops and to ferry children to and from school.

Co-founder James Neward said he had “lost count” of the number of places he and his family have lived in the 13 years it has taken to get the scheme fully off the ground.

Similar sites could help ease the pressure on York and North Yorkshire’s housing shortages, he believes, and he is calling on ministers to make it easier to get community schemes up and running.

One problem, he said, is that government grants do not always “gear towards” co-operative ownership, meaning it has been hard to find funding.

“More government funding for community land trusts, for co-operative housing and acknowledging co-operative tenures would be really helpful for local communities to take on the challenge of building a housing co-operative themselves,” James added.

A government spokesman said ministers – through their Plan for Change – are “breaking down barriers” to development.

“That is so we can restore the dream of homeownership for millions of people across the country, including those in North Yorkshire,” the spokesman said.

Twenty-five miles along the A64, on the edge of Leeds suburb Kirkstall, is the community housing scheme that inspired Yorspace’s co-founders.

It is called LILAC – Low Impact Living Affordable Community – and building work, on an old school site, was completed in 2013.

It is made up of 20 homes, includes its own allotment site and a shared space where residents regularly eat together.

Like the vision for Yorspace, duties like childcare are shared, while the site’s common room has served as a local polling station.

Co-founder Paul Chatterton, a professor of urban futures at the University of Leeds, said co-operative style schemes could help solve the housing shortage and should be part of any “grey belt” development.

“We want to see this rolled out so the next generation can afford houses. My message to the government is to release lots of little sites to this kind of model.

“So those little sites, add them all together and they add up to a new town. They can be brought back into use by communities – giving them affordable, relevant homes to tackle the housing crisis at scale.”

The government spokesman said to help with the delivery of 1.5m homes, ministers have already overhauled the planning system and introduced the “landmark” Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

“That is alongside delivering the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation – backed by £39 billion investment,” the spokesman said.