Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood
Location
Auckland
Stage
Established
Date Initiated
1995
Date Completed
2008
Housing Type
Cohousing
Number of Residents
46 adults, 17 children
Number of Dwellings
32
Size of Land
1.29 Ha (3 acres)
Developed By
Self-developed by group using company structure
Legal Ownership Structure
Unit Title
Individual Dwelling Tenure
Unit Title
Funding Model/s for Development
20% owner equity, 80% commercial loan for construction. Also a grant of $200,000 from ASB Trust and $300,000 interest-free loan from Waitakere City Council.
Housing Type and Numbers
18 townhouses + 14 stacked apartments
Shared Facilities
Common house with kitchen, dining, sitting, laundry, guest room, children’s room, teenagers’ room, activities room. Workshop, gardens and orchard, children’s play, bike shed, open space and shared parking.
Total Cost in Year Completed
$15 million in 2008
Governance Model
Consensus of all members (all adult residents + off-site owners).
What were the external barriers experienced during development?
Getting approvals for non-standard construction, challenges getting bank funding, few builders with appropriate knowledge of non-standard materials.
What were the internal challenges during development?
Very slow to gather enough buyers due to the cohousing model being unfamiliar in NZ, huge time commitment by members (voluntary and low-paid) and consultants (adding cost) to create legal agreements without NZ precedents. Internal conflict.
If you had your time again, would you do anything differently?
Recognise that some of the value of the individual units is in the common facilities, and consider building in a requirement that a percentage of capital gain returns to the commons when units are on-sold.
What advice would you give to aspiring projects starting out?
Clarify and agree your shared vision early. Choose land that is zoned for the type of housing you envisage. Have sufficient capital or access to capital within your group to realistically buy land and seed the development.
“Cohousing for Life” by Earthsong founder Robin Allison distils the learnings from Earthsong to assist other projects.
Further Information and Contacts
www.earthsong.org.nz, info@earthsong.org.nz
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