Housing is one of the most pressing challenges facing the UK today. Affordability pressures remain high, housing mobility has slowed, and for many people the dream of homeownership feels increasingly distant.

Yet public aspiration has not changed. Yorkshire Building Society’s recent No Way Home? report found that 88% of UK adults still believe homeownership is important, underlining the enduring role housing plays in providing security, stability and long-term financial resilience. 

Addressing these challenges will require more than simply building more homes. It will require different approaches, greater collaboration and a willingness to learn from models that put communities at their heart.

Cohousing offers a particularly powerful example of this principle in action. By combining private homes with shared spaces, resident participation and mutual support, cohousing creates environments that help tackle loneliness, strengthen social connections and build community resilience. At a time when social isolation is rising and many people feel disconnected from their neighbours, there is growing interest in housing models that offer something more than bricks and mortar.

As Simon Taylor, Chief Executive of Melton Building Society, and Chair of the Building Societies Association, highlighted “The landscape is shifting towards greater recognition of organisations with strong social purpose, deep community ties and a commitment to serving members rather than external shareholders”.

That description could apply equally to building societies and cohousing communities. Both understand that good outcomes are created when people work together around a shared objective, long-term stewardship and a commitment to improving outcomes for people rather than maximising returns for external shareholders.

Gary Brook joins the Board at UKCN

This is one reason why I'm delighted that Gary Brook has joined the UKCN Board in a voluntary capacity, bringing extensive experience from the mutual and mortgage sectors, including his work at Yorkshire Building Society and his long-standing commitment to make good homes possible for more people.

For Gary, the decision to join UKCN was shaped not by theory alone, but by seeing cohousing first-hand.

Reflecting on a visit to Chapeltown Cohousing in Leeds, he described how the experience challenged conventional assumptions about housing and community.

"I didn't realise how powerful cohousing could be until I saw it in action. Not in theory. Not in policy papers. But walking around a real community."

Gary's experience resonated with memories of his own upbringing in a close-knit working-class community, where home was about more than bricks and mortar.

"Home was never just about four walls. It was knowing your neighbours, looking out for each other, and feeling part of something bigger."

Building More Than Homes

The earliest building societies were founded when people pooled their resources to solve a common problem: access to decent housing. They were community organisations before community organisations became fashionable. More than 250 years later, mutuals still exist to help people save, buy homes and build financial resilience. 

The mutual movement has always been at its best when it combines commercial expertise with social purpose. Cohousing demonstrates how housing can deliver not only shelter, but belonging, participation and mutual support. Together, they point towards a future where housing is viewed not simply as a transaction, but as a foundation for stronger communities and better lives.

By combining private homes with shared spaces, resident participation and mutual support, cohousing offers practical responses to some of the biggest challenges facing society today:

• Housing affordability
• Loneliness and social isolation
• Ageing populations
• Environmental sustainability
• Community resilience

Cohousing and community-led housing more broadly, should therefore be part of a broader mix of housing options rather than viewed as a niche alternative. Cohousing will not solve every housing challenge, but it can play an important role in creating additional routes into secure and sustainable housing  by diversifying the housebuilding sector.

Alongside custom build, self-build, community land trusts, and SME builders, it can increase overall housing supply by introducing additional housing delivery models. Cohousing is primarily funded through resident equity, with future residents contributing capital to help finance the development, often alongside development finance from lenders and, in some cases, support from housing associations, local authorities or government funding programmes.

Importantly, the model works for both home ownership and rental. So, at a time when the UK is searching for answers to its housing challenges, that feels like a conversation worth having. And more importantly, it feels like a model worth building.

Find out more: https://cohousing.org.uk/