When Thomas first suggested starting a housing co-op, I was firmly against the idea. I had two different versions of a co-op in my head: house-shares (where a group of people cram into a standard-sized house) and farms (where people live together to grow food).
I’ve seen the beauty of both, but neither worked for me.
I couldn’t imagine living in an HMO-style house-share because I need my own space and didn’t like the idea of only being able to exist privately in a small bedroom. I want the space to read, relax, exercise and do hobbies without getting in other people’s way.
For the farming option, my body is fairly fragile and has a tendency to break if I bend over too much (and sometimes randomly at other times), so I can’t commit to the intense physical exercise required to grow plants.
There are many housing co-ops around the country, and I now realise there are more than just the two options that I initially imagined, but we haven’t found one that feels like the right fit for us.
So, we started talking about starting our own co-op.
I looked for houses we could buy and found some in our (optimistic) price range that had the space that I need. I started being able to imagine living in one of them with a group of like-minded, friendly people.
I always loved the idea of sharing my life with others, and strongly believe that people are better able to thrive in supportive community. I just wanted to do it in a way that worked for me, and now I believe that I can.