Agreement marks housebuilder’s first move into cohousing

Hill Group has launched a joint venture to scale up delivery of community-focused residential and cohousing.

The 2,900-home a year builder will partner with Town a cohousing developer, to bring forward mixed-use, community-focused developments over the next five years.

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(Left to right) Jonny Anstead, director at TOWN, and Tom Hill, executive director, The Hill Group

The pair have launched the JV with a £50m project at Northstowe, a new town in South Cambridgeshire. 

Homes England has selected the partnership to bring forward roughly 150 homes, including two cohousing communities, alongside a mix of private and affordable housing. A planning application is expected to be submitted this summer.

Town has previously worked with organisations including Cambridge City Council, Landsec and The Crown Estate.

The new joint venture plans to deliver new homes across London, East of England, South East and South Midlands.

>>See also: Marmalade Lane, Cambridge: a case study of co-housing

>> See also: Hill Group picked for Dolphin’s 208-home Hackney regeneration scheme

>>See also: Cohousing can help us build a better-connected and friendlier London

Andy Hill, group chief executive of The Hill Group, said: “This is an exciting move for Hill as we step into the cohousing sector for the first time. 

“Town’s community-first perspective to development presents a fresh and innovative approach that aligns with our commitment to creating sustainable, socially valuable communities. 

What is cohousing? 

The UK Cohousing Network defines co-housing as the following:

“Cohousing communities are intentional communities, created and run by their residents. Each household has a self-contained, private home as well as shared community space. Residents come together to manage their community, share activities, and regularly eat together”

“This venture not only expands and diversifies our development pipeline but also reflects our ambition to support the growth of smaller, values-driven developers who are making a real impact in the sector.”

Jonny Anstead, director of Town, said the partnership would allow them to bring their model to “new places and bigger projects”.