CoHOP Introduction to Cohousing at Atamai

This is for all of us to better understand what CoHOP is all about. and post your comments if you wish

COHOUSING AT ATAMAI – AN INTRODUCTION

Imagine living in a well-designed, comfortable, and affordable home which offers you privacy in your own home as well as the companionship and support of a community who care about growing their own food, sustainable energy use and shared resources – and living in the beautiful Motueka valley.

Atamai Village near Motueka have been interested for some time in providing affordable housing within the village. As it is a rural development, the section sizes are necessarily very large – and expensive – and preclude many families and one- or two-person households. We have recently developed an idea that may provide for these folks, and fit well with Atamai's resilient community ethos.

Cohousing at Atamai

Cohousing around the world takes many forms, but most comprise small individual dwellings clustered around a common house. Each dwelling is complete except for amenities that can be shared, such as laundry and storage facilities, office space and workshops, which are usually accommodated in the common house along with a large kitchen and dining room. Residents have complete privacy in their own home, and they also have access to many extra facilities, as well as the support of a community of close neighbours.

In a shared arrangement such as this, costs are greatly reduced, but home ownership is still not necessarily affordable for everyone. To make cohousing truly affordable, we are establishing a cooperative home ownership programme (CoHOP) to build the homes, and residents will be able to buy shares in their home to the extent that they can afford.

The CoHOP structure will also provide an attractive investment opportunity for those who are concerned about the security of their life savings. The wider local community benefits from a CoHOP as well, as less money is “leaking” out of the community in the form of interest payments on mortgages. Instead, it is likely to be spent with small businesses within the local community.

Design Concept

This sketch (see Trello) shows a possible multi-family house situated on a large north-facing site, behind playing fields and a large pond, in the centre of Atamai Village. Bike paths link the shared house to a cluster of small homes on the hill behind.

First Steps: community first!

Atamai Village was planned from the start with a community house at its heart, and that is where CoHOP will start. Our first multi-family dwelling will be a shared house comprising up to 10 bed-sitting rooms, community kitchen, dining room and utility rooms, which may be occupied by permanent residents, or used as accommodation for people working on the project, or those wanting to “try out” village life. As more cohouses are built, the first shared house may be made available to Atamai Village as a community centre. The bed-sitting rooms may still be permanently occupied, or they may be used as guest rooms, workshops and offices. It will also generate some income that will allow CoHOP to build the next cohouse more quickly: looking after the community first makes sense, for CoHOP as well as for Atamai Village!

Legal Structure and Funding the Project

Enspiral Legal are working on a constitution and shareholder agreements for the CoHOP structure mentioned above. A detailed description of the suggested structure is available as an attachment on our Trello board, (click here to read). Once these documents have been completed and the company formed, we can proceed to the next step: Money! At this stage, we are considering crowd funding as our first major fund-raising exercise, and we have a system in place to hold funds for the planning and building stages.

We are also asking for expressions of interest in the project by way of $100 unsecured (but refundable) loan to Village CoHOP, in return for decision-making rights and the chance to shape the future of the cohousing project. Funds will be deposited into the CoHOP account and may be converted to shares as the project proceeds.

When you'd like to know more....

Progress on Village CoHOP will be detailed step-by-step on this Trello board. Other sites referred to above are:

Atamai Village: http://www.atamaivillage.org/

Cohousing: http://www.cohousing.org/what_is_cohousing

CoHOP: http://www.cooperativehomeownership.com/home-finance.html (This is a generic description of co-operative home ownership, which will be modified for the present project, but the principles apply).

Legal structure for Cohousing at Atamai: https://trello.com/c/75NViimx/31-pamela-register-a-legal-structure