Community Formation:
The formation of a collective housing community affords the members and community several key opportunities. Some of these opportunities are as follow:
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Collective housing communities typically form around a core group of individuals. These people may be an existing group of friends, neighbours, or colleagues who are interested in the idea of collective housing or a group of people with a common connection such as wanting to live in a particular place, or following ecological principles. This initial group will often comprise the most active, engaged, and committed members of a collective housing development. As a project progresses it is also common for the numbers of members to increase in phases associated with key project milestones.
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The members of a collective housing community will usually hold some shared vision for the future. For example in some communities this vision is about sustainability, self-sufficiency, affordability, community or other common intentions. There are as many community visions as there are communities, as each community will develop its own through the process of learning about, exploring, and establishing a collective housing community. These shared visions may be the factor which pulls an initial group together, or the motivation behind a group engaging in collective housing. They may be formalised as a statement and can change and grow as the community develops over time. See also: Cohousing for Life by Robin Allison, Ch. 3
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Forming, growing, and sustaining a collective housing community may be difficult, and requires commitment from the community members involved. Members typically have different levels of commitment at different times. Losing community members at key times may be critical to a project or have a negative impact on a collective housing community. A community will usually have key milestones where a member's commitment is confirmed or increased.
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Many collective housing projects share similar progress milestones, which can be a useful structure for determining how a project is progressing. These milestones also include points where member turnover is possible and relatively simple to handle. These are points where the direction of the project changes, commitment levels increase, investment is required, or major phases begin or end. Typical milestones include:
Shared vision defined
Community formalised
Site identified
Entry/exit point for group members
Pre-project design and cost/feasibility
Site secured
Concept design and costs assessment
Entry/exit point for group members
Land purchased and legal tenure established
Detailed Documentation completed
Consent approved
Finance finalised
Contracts established
Completion of project
Occupation and inhabitation on site
Operational management established
Entry/exit point for group members
