Exploring the possibility of change: the potential for an older people’s development in Newcastle upon Tyne

Cohousing and other kinds of community led approaches have been mentioned frequently in discussion about housing over the last decade. Research into European examples of housing and support explored various innovative options that went beyond the housing and support models most of us are familiar with or added something different. One was cohousing, which seems to offer more than housing with support or care. For older residents there was a lot more control because they were involved from the start in the design of the environment they lived in and their way of living built on their capacity for self-help. The living environment applied not just to the housing or a common room where people met from time to time, but to the wider neighbourhood. People living there were choosing to cooperate together to create a supportive community and they were thriving. Reflecting on the renewed interest in cohousing and given the need for a greater range of community based housing and support options for older people in Newcastle to facilitate self-support, this collaborative research was undertaken.