I’ve written about the social challenges of affordable housing and the potential that, at least for some people, co-housing could provide a solution. The co-housing concept is becoming more and more a mainstream discussion as I get into conversation with people from all stages of life and occupation. In my last post I was floating the idea of building something, a condo or townhouse complex that would be suited to a co-housing model. Since then, I’ve been reminded of a couple of important things that need to be considered.
While social isolation is a challenge among older people, the choice to pack up and move into a smaller unit and new community is not without it’s challenges either. Home is where the heart is and leaving a neighbourhood and a place that has been home for, in some cases decades, can be very challenging, particularly as we get older. The other thing that I have been reminded of is that there is a lot of existing capacity in the current stock of housing that could be better used.
Co-housing could be a solution that would allow seniors to remain where they are, minimize the trauma of a change, potentially address a couple of other societal issues like affordability and social isolation, and also address planning issues like intensification.
The housing boom of the past 5 – 10 years has left many seniors in a position of having significant equity in their homes. Many of those homes have empty space. It has also left many others struggling to get into an expensive market.
Imagine I am a senior who is living in my large family home alone. I have raised children who have now moved off on their own, my spouse has passed away. I love my neighbourhood and don’t want to move but the house is becoming too much. Imagine I could engage a consultant who would come into my house, help me design a space that would be comfortable for me to live in, manage the renovation, and find me someone who would be interested in taking over the rest of the house through a rent-to-own arrangement that would ultimately result in title transfer. Someone who, like me, would have an appreciation for the community benefits of a co-housing arrangement.
I’m interested in exploring a renovation company or non-profit that would provide full service from assessment/design, to re-zoning, construction management, and lease/rental/rent-to-own agreement services to seniors for whom this model might work. The challenges of this type of solution have been pointed out to me in conversations I’ve had over the past year. Those challenges include finding suitable parties able to make a co-housing arrangement work, financing and title challenges. But I don’t think any of those are insurmountable if we are willing to give them some real thought. And the benefits could be significant.
I would like to assemble a focus group made up of a lawyer, financial planner, renovation contractor, city planner, co-housing advocate, and a realtor to work through those challenges. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in discussing this, please reach out to me by e-mail – ken.tigchelaar@homeandproperty.ca