K1 Cambridge Cohousing

Jan Chadwick Member & Director

Dave Prinsep Head of Property Services

Cambridge City Council

The long and winding road.......

The long and winding road.......

The long and winding road.....

• Part of the wider Arbury Camp major residential development• 2002-2008 Implementing Collaboration Agreement• Allocated for 37 houses for market sale• July 2008 sale to developer fails, market crashes, development stops!• City and South Cambs District Councils look for creative approaches• Cambridge Horizons supports a study by C2O Futureplanners • Approach developed in discussion with key stakeholders

and the stakeholders were…..

• Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils• Orchard Park Community Council• Cohousing and self build groups, i.e., potential purchasers• Funders such as brokers and building societies• Housing Associations • Developers and housebuilders• Local estate agents and surveyors

Two councils with ambition......

• Cambridge City Council – landowner• South Cambs District Council – planning

authority• Drive development in difficult market• Deliver whole Arbury Camp scheme• Good quality design• Homes to high environmental standards• More imaginative layout • Take an innovative approach

Community’s the thing.........

• Both Councils decided that community cohousing was the most appropriate model.

• Support by working with and providing support to a cohousing group to procure an enabling development partner.

The hope....• That members of a cohousing group would contribute positively

to the life of Orchard Park

• Co-housing groups have a problem in finding suitable land • Selling directly to a individuals or cohousing group not seen as a viable way

forward• No experience in building• Failure could mean that the land lying empty or part developed for years• Council’s VAT position

• The Enabled Cohousing solution• Cambridge City Council markets the land to an enabling development partner• The development partner builds out the site to the client brief• Disposals of individual units to cohousing members• Ensures that a fair price is obtained by the Council• Ensures that an experienced developer carries out the build• Ensures that cohousing members influence the property they buy

What’s enabled cohousing?

• City Council provided support for Cambridge Cohousing Ltd to develop its requirements and produce a client brief

• City Council marketed the site by competitive tender with submissions evaluated jointly with Cambridge Cohousing Ltd

• City Council to sell the land to the appointed developer • The developer contracts to build to the client brief • As part of the bid process, a pricing model was provided so that the

process was fair and equitable and to give price certainty to cohousers• The freehold of the land transfers to Cambridge Cohousing Ltd on

completion

What's enabled cohousing?.... (continued)

Financial model• All dwellings to be sold at market rates based on bid pricing model

• City Council enabling but not subsidising cohousing• Cohousing Members can fix price by early sign up• Any properties not sold to Cambridge Cohousing Ltd Members sold on open market

• Top Down calculation to fix the price for the land paid to CCCTotal sales price for all dwellings

minus agreed profit minus development costs= Price paid to CCC for the K1 plot

What's enabled cohousing?.... (continued)

New homes in partnership with an established housing provider Long leasehold ownership by individual owners Shared ownership of the freehold of the site and public realm Good quality sustainable homes Hopefully, a stable community. Cohousing has a strong track record in other European and

North American countries

Enabled cohousing is providing

Moving forward......research

2012 Cambridge City Council commissions the help:

• Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd represented by Jim Ross• Stephen Hill of C2O futureplanners from the earlier study• Adam Broadway of Instinctively Green (Project Manager)

Three phase programme

Stage 1 : Viability

Stage 2 : Client Brief

Stage 3 : Invitation to Tender

Three phase programme - Stage 1

Testing viability of the project. As a result:• The City Council gave the final go ahead in October 2012 to the

disposal of the site for an Enabled Cohousing project• Decision based on evidence that

• Financially viable• Sufficient cohousing interest• Developer interest in scheme• Funders would provide mortgages

Stage 1 findings….

• There were a reasonable number of potential purchasers • There would be retail mortgages available from local and national

building societies and banks. • The national housing and planning policy climate was supportive, based

on regular liaison with the team working on the CLG Custom Build Action Plan.

• There were a reasonable number of commercial organisations willing to take on an enabling developer role

• Only one housing association (out of ten invited), Accord, expressed an interest.

Birth of K1 Cohousing.....

• The City Council confirmed the ‘Enabled Co-housing’ approach to the development of the K1 Site.

• Enlinca, a long established cohousing group in the City, were invited to become involved.

• Enlinca’s members assisted the development of the new K1 Cohousing group, and some of them have now joined it as prospective purchasers.

Stage 2 - The Client BriefNovember 2012 to November 2013

• Building a core membership group• Developing a design brief through members workshops• The goal - plans for a indicative site layout sufficient to apply for an outline

planning consent • Group met regularly with Cambridge Architectural Research’s design team

to develop the brief• Transport Working Group develop our plan• November 2013 – Client Brief almost there!

New Membership recruitment

Developing the client brief

• Workshops with members run by Cambridge Architectural Research• Planning strategy established• Client Brief Document completed - April 2014

Client Brief Workshop outcome

August bank holiday 2013

Major recruitment drive!• City Council required the group to be at least 18 households in order

to proceed to planning and partner procurement• i.e 50% of the likely total number of homes to be built• Substantially larger number of firm membership commitments than is usual

at this stage of a cohousing development

• Sensible target to minimise risk for the City Council and development partner

October 2013 - 36 members

Cambridge Cohousing Ltd

• Unincorporated Foundation Group became a limited company• October 2013 Articles of Association and Cambridge Cohousing Ltd registered

• Appointed solicitors Anthony Collins and Partners, after competitive tendering

• Incorporated body required to enter into contracts with the City Council and the development partner

The client brief finalised…

• Ready for outline planning application May 2014• Community Led Support Project grant application to the Homes and

Communities Agency for fees related to the planning application and project management.

• South Cambridgeshire’s District Council LPA prepared a draft Planning Performance Agreement to cover the process of pre- and post- Outline Planning Application activity.

Outline Planning Application Nov 2014

• Publicity ramps up! • Press release to Cambridge News

• Prospectus and Invitation to Tender prepared• Advert in Building Magazine • Open Day for Developers with Cambridge Cohousing Ltd and Cambridge City

Council in November 2014

• Issues arising from application addressed by South Cambs District Council and Cambridge Cohousing Ltd at a members workshop in January 2015

• Legal Working Group develops leases with Anthony Collins Solicitors

Stage 3 - Invitation to tender

Documents issued 8th December 2014Stage 1 Bid: Deadline end of January 2015

• Minimum land value required• Proposed scheme• Shortlisting based on quality and experience• Evaluation by City Council and Cambridge Cohousing Ltd’s Procurement Working Group - 3 – 6

bidders to be selected at end of January

Stage 2 Bid: Deadline mid-May 2015• Land price offers with unit pricing model included• More detailed scheme proposals• Members workshop event with shortlisted developers and planners• Evaluation by Cambridge City Council and Cambridge Cohousing Ltd’s Procurement Working Group • Evaluation based on 60/40 price/quality on land price only

TOWNhus selected June 2015!

An imaginative and creative solution

Celebrating the selection of TOWNhus

Our involvement increases

• Publicity and Recruitment drive• Members workshop with TOWNhus• Process of developing design and consulting members established• Adam Broadway’s appointment extended as Project Manager• Developer Working Group established

• Conduit for communication between Cambridge Cohousing Ltd and TOWNhus • HOMES Working Group• COMMON GROUND Working Group• COMMON HOUSE Working Group

October 2015 – Almost there!

Planning application preparation• Design “freeze” – pending• Whole Scheme configuration pending• Final preparation of leases (worked on for last 18 months)• Mortgage discussions with BUILDstore (since summer 2015)• Members selling current homes

22 November Planning Application Submission

Next Steps

• Subject to Planning Approval• Build to start January / February 2016

• Staged delivery with common house and first dwellings available Autumn 2016

• Quarter 1 - 2017• Final residents move in• Freehold transfers to Cambridge Cohousing Ltd

Party Time!

Some thoughts….

• Enabled Cohousing provided the breakthrough for cohousing in Cambridge• Cohousing groups had existed in Cambridge for many years beforehand but without success

• Enabled Cohousing has reduced the workload Cambridge Cohousing Ltd• There is a still substantial amount of work for Cambridge Cohousing Ltd members to undertake• Without the support of the City Council the workload would have been much higher and more

difficult.

• Financially, cohousing is more demanding than normal home buying• The Enabling model and support from the council has brought it into reach for many more people

• Our professional advisers, funded by the City Council and the Homes & Communities Agency, were key in helping us to articulate our vision

“To build a place which is beautiful, environmentally, socially and financiallysustainable, friendly and fun.”