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Cohousing and the role of intermediaries in later life transitions

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  • Izuhara, Misa
  • West, Karen
  • Hudson, Jim
  • Felstead, Aimee
  • Arrigoitia, Melissa Fernández
  • Scanlon, Kath

Abstract

Mutual support among residents in collaborative housing for older people presents an alternative care model to family or formal social care provided in individuals’ homes or specialised care facilities. This is particularly the case in cohousing, where residents commit to mutual support and exercise autonomy through self-governance. Cohousing also supports the ageing processes by fostering greater wellbeing and significantly lessening social isolation and loneliness. Further, it offers the potential for older people to collectively maintain greater agency in later life and manage age-related health decline. Despite a growing body of literature on ageing and collaborative housing, to date little research has explored how later-life transitions are negotiated among residents of collaborative housing. Drawing on longitudinal, qualitative research on collaborative housing communities in England between 2021 and 2023, this article examines age-related challenges residents face in cohousing, and how they respond to such changing care needs individually and collectively. Analysing data from two waves of fieldwork in three cohousing communities, it examines how the mutual-support functions of the communities act as an intermediary to facilitate communication with different parties, formal and informal care provision and decision-making. The intermediary role tends not to replace the need for formal social care or the involvement of family but provides a supportive buffer between the individual and the family and formal services. Despite the lack of built-in care services placing a potentially heavier burden on residents, the ‘intentional’ commitment to mutual support in cohousing contributes significantly to extending agency in later life.

Suggested Citation

  • Izuhara, Misa & West, Karen & Hudson, Jim & Felstead, Aimee & Arrigoitia, Melissa Fernández & Scanlon, Kath, 2024. "Cohousing and the role of intermediaries in later life transitions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125557, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:125557
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/125557/
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    1. Misa Izuhara & Karen West & Jim Hudson & Melissa Fernández Arrigoitia & Kath Scanlon, 2022. "Collaborative housing communities through the COVID-19 pandemic: rethinking governance and mutuality," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 65-83, December.
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      More about this item

      Keywords

      agency; cohousing; collaborative housing; intermediary; later life transitions; mutual support;
      All these keywords.

      JEL classification:

      • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
      • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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