10019012Senior CoHousing Communities in TorfaenClosedSmall Business Research InitiativeISCFWorking alongside The Wales Cooperative Centre, we intend to explore the feasibility of introducing a senior cohousing model to meet the future needs of older people and to ensure that people are given more choice in their accommodation options, allowing them to age well. Cohousing is an intentional community of private homes, clustered around a shared space, allowing people to 'live together, apart'. People can enjoy the benefits of eating together and socialising, using shared facilities such as washing machines, tools and vehicles and the reduced cost of living and environmental impact by limiting resource consumption through the use of shared resources. Offering a way to reduce loneliness and isolation and to reduce or delay the need for people to access costly health and social care interventions Studies of the concept from Europe have demonstrated that living in cohousing has had a positive impact of residents by, enhancing their sense of wellbeing, reducing loneliness and isolation, continued activity and engagement, the possibility of staying healthier for longer and continued personal autonomy and independence. Cohousing relies on conscious community building, shared responsibility and commitment, democratic decision making and continued self-management, shared meals and involvement in the design of the environment. It allows older people, not to be viewed as, and feel like passive recipients of care and support but rather active, independent decision makers. Our project will address the barriers to the introduction of cohousing in the UK which include: * unfamiliarity of the model to both older people and the housing sector; * the cost of land, the difficulty of locating sites and the dominance of volume developers; * supporting policy makers to better understand the successes of the model; * fear of innovation; * the failure to prepare adequately for the future of people aged 50+; * the current narrow range of housing options available to older people; * the specialist skills needed by older people to organise and live in a cohousing environment. And will help to address each of the 7 Healthy Ageing Challenge themes by ensuring that we work with our communities and stakeholders to listen to how we best support them in the co-design, build and delivery of a cohousing scheme within Torfaen. The study will help us to understand and report how well the concept can be applied to the social housing stock, both through the remodelling of existing provision and in the building of new schemes.