Co-housing project in Hobart offers affordable rentals and sense of community

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Four years ago, Kate Kelly was under such severe rental stress she went searching for a van to live in with her son.

The single mother with a disability was spending 70 per cent of her income on rent, and had been on the waiting list for public housing for years.

"I'd got to the point where I wasn't using petrol or electricity on the days my son went to his father's house.

"I wasn't buying the medication I needed for myself, I wasn't going to the doctor.

"I couldn't afford to catch up with friends, because that costs money." 

By chance, Ms Kelly ran into someone who lived at the South Hobart Co-housing Co-operative who offered her the chance to house-sit for one of the tenants.

At the co-operative she had a house of her own with a garden and views of kunanyi/Mount Wellington.

Her rent was set to never exceed 30 per cent of her income, and she had a ready-made community that welcomed both her and her son with open arms.

After the house-sit, a permanent space became available. Years later, she is still there.

"I kind of pinch myself every day when I wake up here," she said.

"I have housing security, I have somewhere to raise my son, he has nice things because I can afford to buy them.

"He has a community and I have a community as well."

Co-housing involves the construction of several dwellings on a single block, where some amenities are shared.

In the midst of a housing crisis, the latest census data reveals there are more than one million vacant homes across the country.

In South Hobart there are 12 homes and a common building all facing a central pedestrian 'street'.

Each home in the village is different, ranging in size from two to five bedrooms, and all have a private garden or balcony with a view west to the mountain, or east towards the River Derwent.

The common building contains a kitchen, dining room, lounge area, laundry and guest flat.

There is a large green space at the back of the development, and communal gardens and courtyards throughout.

While the residences have their own kitchens and dining rooms, each week there are common meals, which the residents prepare for one-another.

The model is designed to encourage social interaction, but it is not compulsory.

"I found there's actually a concerted effort to maintain privacy and respect here," Kate Kelly said.

"When people go into their house, or when they don't want to engage with a common meal, when they need some personal space, there's no expectation.

"So, the living is really autonomous and it's really private and it's really nice, but if you want to, you step outside onto your porch and have a chat."

Under the co-housing model, the properties are all individually leased to a tenant.

South Hobart is a co-operative, which means the entire property is owned and run as a not-for-profit business by its members and a board.

Each tenant pays a very small annual membership fee to be part of the co-operative and rent is paid to the organisation.

Every member is responsible for the upkeep and administration of the co-operative, and just like in any organisational structure, they have defined roles and obligations.

"It runs like a business, lives like a community," Kate Kelly explained.

The amount of rent each tenant pays is based on the size of the property, and never exceeds 30 per cent of household income.

Living there has been life-changing for Charlie Woolley and her two-year-old son Jasper.

Prior to moving in back in October 2020, the 22-year-old had been unable to find an affordable rental and had been living in a student boarding house.

"I feel that there's a little bit of discrimination against those who have pets and children, which are often things you can't just re-home," Ms Woolley said.

"There are homeless shelters out there, but the wait lists for those are just insane."

Being a young mother on the brink of homelessness was incredibly stressful.

"There was a lot of guilt involved. I wanted to give my son a safe place to call his own, and I couldn't provide that." 

Ms Woolley admits she found the idea of co-housing a little daunting.

"It was a bit scary at first, because I'd never seen the level of community that was happening.

"The words co-operative and co-housing made me think of a like a commune or a cult almost, and it's not like that at all.

"People hear things like 'common meals' and 'shared rent' and they think 'what are you doing?', 'are you trapped?', 'do you need me to call someone?'

"But it's an amazing place to live."

She now pays less rent for a three-bedroom home with views over the city than she did when she was at the boarding house.

By sharing amenities, food and the cost of installing things like solar panels, co-housing is relatively cheap and environmentally friendly.

Having dozens of people living on the same block means they are also very efficient in terms of space.

Elena Perera from Co-Housing Australia believes it is a combination that can help tackle Australia's housing crisis.

"We see co-housing as a model that can provide affordable private and social housing," she said.

"Around the world there are many, many more in urban and suburban contexts, and that's the area we would like to see flourish in Australia.

"Our motto is that we want to see a co-housing project in every suburb and town."

The problem is, it is very difficult for these kinds of projects to get finance.

"In Australia we have a highly developer-driven model of housing production, and so individual groups are essentially required to become developers.

"Banks aren't really used to lending to collectives."

While Ms Perera believes this is starting to change, progress is slow.

She says the quickest way co-housing projects will start popping up across the country is if governments and financial institutions realise their potential.

"It's really dependent on partnerships with government, lenders, social impact investors, superannuation funds, and the community housing sector to partner with groups."

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