Hi all, is anyone on this still active/interested in pursing home building with a coop?

Maybe you could run a check (one of the decision-making tool) to see who is still actively involved in a housing co-operative group (or is looking for one)?

I'd be interested to know aswell.

My two cents is that most of the people who are interested (or would be served by) a housing co-op are those in the precarious situation between (a) being on the social housing list and (b) being able to afford a mortgage. And that it is difficult to invest time/energy/money in a housing co-op in those circumstances.

Hey Eoin,

Yeah I'm still open to the idea alright.

Keep me in the loop shur. Or just gimme a call on 0857736821.

Fox

Still working on this. We just had a Public Meeting last Thursday and around 40 people attended. We launched our new website, http://collaborativehousinglimerick.ie on that occasion. I am in touch with similar groups in Cork and Galway. SOA Research are organising a Cohousing Cafe on February 23rd in Dublin. That would be a very good opportunity to connect. We haven't figured out the legal form - coop or some other, but we are willing to explore this issue together with others. We're planning a vision workshop in Limerick for 21 February.

Thanks for kicking off this conversation,

Im still active with Cloughjordan Co-Housing, we incorporated as a CLG with co-operative principles in our articles and registered internationally as a .coop - cloughjordancohousing.coop

We have gone around and around for the last few years, bringing people in and losing people. The current group are looking at three ways forward.

Developing a Co-Living unit, one large shared house in the Ecovillage for young people.
Exploring buildings in the wider area of Cloughjordan that could be retrofitted for Co-Housing.
Progressing our original vision of buying/ securing a number of sites in the Ecovillage and developing a pocket neighbourhood.

Site and build costs are the biggest challenge. Building in rural Ireland doesn’t make sense with building costs of €1.5 to €2,000 a sqM quoted.

Last weekend there was a co-operative build workshop here held on the topic of Radical Affordability, which attracted quite a few people attended with an interested in developing an on site prefab modular system. Its early days but it looks like a Building Co-op might develop.

I was at the Limerick meet up, which was great and the Cohousing Cafe that SOA Research are organising on February 23rd in Dublin sounds very promising, although unfortunately I can’t attend

We are all very busy and under resourced to do this work but there is value in having these virtual meet ups/ check ins. Gabriela and Kim at UL are looking at a platform for co-housing, we do need something to facilitate synergies and collaboration between us.

Davie

Hi Gabriela, are you making it to Dublin on the 23rd for the CoHousing Cafe?

I was in Galway meeting with some people who had made it to your event in Limerick, very encouraging event. Looks like Limerick might be the place were we get the first success use case of co-op/community led housing.

Yup , I'm still seeking a home & business premises via whichever means , preferably co-operatively & designed & built along eco lines . Location is un-important @ this stage .

Thanks for the responses. It's good to see there is some activity. The 2 projects listed above sound great, for the Dublin based people it's obviously too far,but I don't see why we couldn't start a Dublin group and keep in touch to learn from what you guys are doing, if that's ok?

Did you have any success with getting help from government/councils etc when purchasing land, whether it be from council owned land/vacant sites or even private land?
Did you experience any benefits by being a group/coop when it came to negotiations?

What about applying for a mortgage?

As for anyone reading this that is interested in Dublin based project, i think the goal would be for a site as close to town as price permits, but this would likely require
A) government bodies being sympathetic to our cause and giving good price on land
B) being creative and communicating with schools, churches or other institutions they might have suitable land they'd be willing to sell to the right people

Otherwise, sites further out like cell bridge Lucan or citywest (or any other suggestions?) Might be necessary.

I'm currently pricing alternative construction methods to see if it is worth it (see scanhome.ie ( http://scanhome.ie ) or ecohouse.ie ( http://ecohouse.ie ) .. there's plenty more but these seem the best so far)

Hi, Yes I'm still interested but lack of support/ interest, from the County Council (Wexford) to assist or advise in any shape or form really broke my spirit. I'm working tirelessly to hold on to private, rented accommodation. Like many other people without the finance to get started, it becomes frustratingly difficult. I'm not giving up but it became a case of take time-out or burn-out!

Presently I'm doing a start your own Bizz course & some gardening courses also . My plan is to develop some kind of social business in horticulture & pin some land & buildings along with that ! I'llbe starting Bizz in Summer & if it does OK , I shall build on that asset base !

Hi Andy, care to tell me more about what you mean by "My plan is to develop some kind of social business in horticulture & pin some land & buildings along with that ! I'llbe starting Bizz in Summer & if it does OK , I shall build on that asset base !" ?