City co-housing plans face opposition

A co-housing project for people who want to "look out for each other, not look after each other" is being set up in what is thought to be the first scheme of its kind in the south west.

The project has earmarked the Honeylands House site, in Exeter, for 35 new homes for people aged 55 or older.

They would each have their own properties and have some shared spaces for things like laundry facilities, socialising and optional cooking and eating.

Developers Aspen have put in a planning application for the site but there are dozens of objections from nearby residents and the head of neighbouring Vranch House, a specialist centre which supports children with physical disabilities and complex needs.

Cohousing Exeter - a group of people interested in living communally - has been working with the developer, and with the advisory group, Community Led Homes, for the past year and recently held a recruitment day for potential residents to find out more about the project.

Honeylands House, an imposing pillared building just off Pinhoe Road, would be the focal point of the development with a shared space for socialising, cooking and eating and two first floor flats.

The site would have one, two and three-bedroom homes with prices expected to start from £300,000.

Phillip Douch is one of the founding members of Cohousing Exeter and told people who came to the recruitment day the scheme was for "people who want to look out for each other, not look after each other".

He said: "We're trying to acknowledge that as you get older, a lot of people don't have the kind of social connections that prevent them from getting lonely.

"I don't want my son to feel like he's got 100% responsibility for us as we grow older.

"We want to know people, really get to know people, be really physically close by to people who we know and trust and get on with so if we do eventually need more support it's actually already baked in to where we're living."

Co-housing is increasing in popularity in a trend which is thought to be driven by loneliness, the housing crisis and the high cost of care.

The development in Exeter would have guest bedrooms to be used by all so residents do not feel the need to have a spare room.

Organisers said there would be a service charge but it would be set and agreed by the group, rather than an external private company, as is the case with many retirement home complexes.

Ruth Foster, who came along to the information day, said as a single person co-housing was an attractive option.

She said: "I'm really interested in the whole concept and the reality of co-housing - that people can come together and build a community together, have their own individual space, but a shared ethos of wanting to live alongside each other."

Jeff Sleeman also came to find out more about the scheme which included a tour of the site.

He said: "To live in a co-housing project means you have other people around you.

"You're not living in each other's pockets and you've got your own space.

"There's an opportunity for shared meals and shared resources which just makes so much more sense than living in an individual box on your own."

Honeylands House was built between 1801 and 1838 in a neo-classical style according to Historic England and used as the residence for the attorney John Bushell.

The building is Grade II listed and was used as a tuberculosis sanatorium in the early 20th Century before being converted into a children's centre in the 1970s which closed down in 2012.

Planning permission was previously granted in 2022 for a 64-bed care home for older people on the site.

The latest application for 35 homes is facing objections from residents of Lamacraft Drive based on overlooking and loss of privacy and from Kate Moss, chief executive of Vranch House School and Clinic.

She said: "We've got 65 children here with significant physical difficulties who are on ventilators, have severe epilepsy, and it's the proximity of this building.

"We're going to be massively overlooked - we provide at Vranch House a very safe environment for children and their families and this would be a massive encroachment on our safety and vulnerability."

Vranch said in her objection to Exeter City Council the "noise, vibration, and disruption" of demolition and construction would "pose significant risks" to the wellbeing of children and said "increased vehicle movements at peak times present safety risks for children with mobility impairments and wheelchair users".

Charles Taylor, from the developer Aspen, said his firm had worked on lots of retirement housing schemes but was sure the idea of co-housing for older people would be a popular one.

He said: "One thing we know about the co-housing sector is the difficulty of securing land, securing planning, securing the construction.

"We're a developer, we're acting like a developer but we're doing it differently - we're collaborating with the group, we know we're building for them and they're coming along the journey with us and it's informative and quite exciting."

The planning application is currently being considered by Exeter City Council and the developer is hoping to have homes ready to move into early in 2028.

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