@Lady Penelope said:
Jimmy T – I am a bit confused about the terms (1) ‘co-operative housing’ and (2) ‘co housing’ (communal housing). Both appear to be quite different. Are you able to provide a definition of both? Which type are you advocating for?
Ditto. The Owners Corp, of which I am part, is a set of townhouses built by a housing co-operative in the mid 1970s. That is, the people who intended to live here commissioned an architect to come up with a plan to meet their requirements as well as complying with planning guidelines.
Very early on in planning, I understand, there was talk of building at least part of the site as co-housing, with shared kitchens or living areas but private bedrooms. This did not come to pass and the units were built conventionally with the usual complete set of kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, living areas.
Another housing co-operative, set up at the same time as ours and using the same architect, did build a few units joined to a shared living area but they were mostly separate. Most of the units were conventional.
Both developments were intended to have substantial shared facilities. Our co-op went bankrupt and did not get the community hall and swimming pool that our twin got. Only in recent years have we been slowly improving our shared facilities. Most recently we have added elegant but simple picnic shelter over a pizza oven and BBQ area next to a playground from the 1980s, recently brought to current standards, and a clay tennis court from the early 80s. We are talking about a community veggie garden in the same area.