With Ireland in the midst of a severe housing shortage, the Government must be bold and brave and embrace creative solutions. One that deserves serious consideration is cohousing, an innovative, community-led model that is flourishing in countries like Britain, US, Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada.
In Denmark, the government and financial institutions are supporting the concept with favourable zoning laws and financing options.
The result is that over the next five years, 80,000 of the country’s over 50s are planning to move into a cohousing community.
Cohousing is designed for people aged 50 and over who are healthy and active, offering the opportunity to “right-size” into well-designed, sustainable homes with shared facilities for socialising and enjoying life to the full.
It differs significantly from nursing homes or supported housing as they are self-managed communities, typically for a younger cohort who are looking for a more suitable option within their own area.
This model helps to combat social isolation and enable older people to age well, possibly postponing or avoiding the need for institutional care.
An added benefit is that it can free up under-used housing stock for younger families. Cohousing is also cost-effective with shared amenities and collaborative management reducing expenses, while smaller, eco-friendly homes are better for the environment.
The need for cohousing in Ireland is urgent.
Research shows that many over-50s currently live in homes that are too large or no longer meet their needs.
According to the ESRI, more than 1.18m people in Ireland are aged between 50 and 75, and 67% of Irish homes are under-occupied — double the EU average.
Cohousing Ireland is a new, not-for-profit initiative with more than 150 members and groups forming in Dublin, Cork, and elsewhere.
We see three major barriers standing in the way of cohousing gaining traction in Ireland:
• Access to suitable sites is a major hurdle, with vast tracts of land held by the State, religious institutions, and local authorities;
• Planning laws don’t recognise cohousing as a distinct housing category like student accommodation. It needs to properly zoned and supported in development plans;
• Most prospective cohousing residents are mortgage-free. They need access to bridging finance that would allow them to move without first selling their homes. A State-backed revolving loan fund, successfully used in Denmark and the Netherlands, would make a significant difference.
Cohousing is about more than housing.
It’s about dignity, sustainability, and community. With targeted policy support and political will, it can become a vital part of Ireland’s housing future.
Anne Connolly, Cohousing Communities Ireland, Dublin 6
Many years ago, I spent some quality time in a bedsit in Clontarf in Dublin. It was on the third floor of a large period house, shared with four other bedsits on the same floor.
In modern-day estate agent parlance, it would be described as “comfortable, in a highly sought after area, good value for money in the current challenging rental market, ergonomically compact with modern conveniences, and nice sea views”. In reality, the single bed was jammed up against the wall and took up over 75% of the room.
The wardrobe consisted of a length of coarse twine hovering over the bed, one end tied to the curtain rail and the other attached to a six-inch masonry nail partially hammered into the door frame.
The cooking facilities included a two-ringed camping gas stove balanced precariously on an orange box advertising sun-kissed oranges from Seville.
There was a small corner sink by the window. The sea could be viewed by exiting the building and walking down the road towards Dublin Bay.
Crucially, the main convenience — the toilet — was located on the landing and shared by all and sundry, often resulting in slow moving queues, particularly bothersome when nature was pressing.
Of course, a bedsit wouldn’t be a bedsit without at least a couple of resident mice, but I had at least four. We coexisted for the while as I didn’t bother them and they didn’t bother me.
The real convenience, not to be underestimated, was that, such was the proximity to everything, all the conveniences could be operated without getting out of bed in the morning, like putting on the kettle, brushing your teeth and turning on the cooker with your big toe to make the porridge, thus gaining an extra 10 minutes shut eye before rising and going to work.
In retrospect, the experience wasn’t all bad, but like the banks and the financial system and everything else at the time, the much-maligned bedsit suffered from a light touch, or more accurately, zero regulation. Surely the resurrection of the modest bedsit could make substantial in roads into the current homeless and housing problems.
John Leahy, Wilton, Cork
I’m delighted to see that the race to succeed President Michael D Higgins has at last kicked off.
The last four incumbents of the office, to go no farther back than that, have fulfilled the role with great distinction.
President Patrick Hillery always carried out his duties with quiet grace and dignity.
President Mary Robinson ushered in a new era not just for mná na hÉireann but for fir na hÉireann as well. Mrs Robinson subsequently went on to become a forceful voice for human rights.
President Mary McAleese, coming from a northern background, was a harbinger of all the wonderful possibilities that opened up with reconciliation and peace.
Our current President, Michael D Higgins, has brought a whole new dimension to the office.
He has shown that while politicians may be confined to prose in how they govern, the President can preside with a certain level of verse.
He has given expression to the feelings of the public on the overriding issues of our time, whether this be the housing crisis at home or human rights issues abroad. Mr Higgins will certainly be a hard act to follow for whoever succeeds him.
Fair dues to independent TD Catherine Connolly for being the first to throw her hat in the ring (closely followed by the Fine Gael nomination of Mairead McGuinness). Others are still hedging their bets, and some don’t want the race to start until after the summer.
A comparative latecomer to national politics, Connolly will need a lot of stamina for the long race ahead. But since being elected to the Dáil in 2016, she has shown herself to be a serious politician who is passionate about human rights and is not afraid to speak out on them.
John Glennon, Hollywood, Co Wicklow