Page 24 - C.A.L.L. #43 - Winter 2017

Co-housing for older

women, by older women

New Ground is the first co-housing community in the UK to be designed by and for

exclusively women over the age of 50

Heather Saul, London, UK; The i

Loneliness is a chronic problem in the UK. Last week Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, the head of the Royal
College of General Practitioners (RCGP), said loneliness was as damaging to health as long-term chronic
illness.

Of the 3.64 million people over the age of 65 living alone in the UK, nearly 70 per cent are women. The
Older Women’s Co-Housing (OWCH) group’s new community aims to combat loneliness, promote
health and ensure women remain charge of their own lives. New Ground, in High Barnet, north London,
is now fast approaching its first birthday.

Its residents helped design the 25 self-contained flats they now live in. Their open plan flats are modern,
bright and airy, with high ceilings and large windows. Each has a patio or generous balcony looking over
the communal garden, many of which are filled with a vibrant array of potted plants. Outside, a wisteria
plant is slowly growing around a connecting
pole between floors.

Its physical design is impressive, but OWCH is
keen visitors appreciate the social architecture
too. “What the women have built socially, as a
group, is more important than anything else, ”
says Maria, who has been with OWCH since its
inception 19 years ago.

Anna, a freelance costume designer, joined
OWCH in 2009. Her sewing skills have come in
handy at New Ground, while New Ground is
teaching her to refine her listening skills.
OWCH is a group of women over fifty who have created
“I’m 64 but I’m not completely sorted,” she their own community in a new, purpose-built block of flats
explains as we sit around a dining table in the ‘New Ground’ in High Barnet, N. London.
attractive two bedroom flat she owns. “You
have to be open to that. You have to be open to
a good friend saying: ’What you said hurt me’ and then you explain yourself. You learn that it is very
good to have a conversation.”

Men often visit their friends and relatives at New Ground but excluding men from living there also
ensures women remain firmly in charge. “There are women here who remember not being able to get a
mortgage without their husband or fathers,” adds Anna.

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