The purpose of Community Living Wiltshire is to enable people who are interested in community living to meet each other.
We host face to face social occasions that involve a presentation about some aspect of community living followed by a chance to meet and talk over a coffee and home made cake. Everything is free.
The primary focus of the social occasions is Co Housing although people interested in other types of community living are also welcome.
Once some like minded people have decided to form a Co Housing group or other community project then our work is done.
Hopefully those groups will return to share their experience with new people who are curious about community living and are thinking about joining a Co Housing group or starting their own group.
A Co Housing community is a housing estate where everyone has their own house or flat and the ownership of the rest of the housing estate is shared jointly between the residents. Co Housing estates have many more communal spaces than most housing estates.
Communal spaces may include
A shared community building with a kitchen
Rooms for visitors to stay
Gardens
Vegetable plots
A launderette
A workshop
Co Housing estates are often a mix of owner occupation and rentals. The rental properties are often managed by a housing association.
The properties can be new build or conversions from existing buildings.
Co Housing tends to attract people who want to live in an eco friendly way. Many Co Housing homes are extremely energy efficient.
The Co Housing residents are responsible for the whole estate. They make decisions together and the work of running the estate is shared between all the them.
You can find out more about Co Housing at the UK Co Housing Network website below.
Residents of Co Housing communities tend to stay for a long time but there are vacancies from time to time. There is a list of vacancies on the UK Co Housing network website.
There are many very successful Co Housing communities in the UK and all over the world however there are no Co Housing communities inWiltshire at the moment.
Some of the Co Housing communities that are up and running in adjacent counties are listed below. These communities are all quite different from each another.
Each community runs regular tours that allow you to see inside their homes and meet some of the people living there. You can book on the tours from their websites.
The Threshold Centre in Gillingham Dorset
http://www.thresholdcentre.org.uk
Hazelmead in Bridport Dorset
https://bridportcohousing.org.uk
Springhill in Stroud Gloucestershire
https://www.springhillcohousing.com
Community Living Wiltshire will be arranging face to face social events in 2026.
If you are interested in finding out about these events then please email communitylivingwiltshire@gmail.com