Consultant Brief: Designing A Service For Creating Cohousing Communities

Summary

• Budget: £15,000 (inclusive of VAT and expenses)
• Delivery Period: January – July 2026
• Project lead: UK Cohousing Network (UKCN) and Partner Housing 21
• For information/send application to: owen@cohousing.org.uk
• Deadline for submissions: 30 November midnight
• Interviews – 04/05 December 2025

Context

The UK cohousing sector is entering a period of significant growth. More landowners, developers and housing associations are bringing forward cohousing sites and increasingly need structured support to: recruit residents; help groups become cohesive communities; and build wider knowledge and skills on cohousing models. While housing design and construction are well understood, community recruitment, formation and sustained community building remain underdeveloped — yet these are critical to the long-term success of schemes.

To address this gap, UK Cohousing Network (UKCN) and Housing 21 are developing a three-part service offer that will:

1. A recruitment service for developers, housing associations and community groups to recruit future cohousing residents.
2. A coaching and training offer to help groups form, govern and sustain themselves.
3. An online education programme for individuals and aspiring coaches.

UK Cohousing Network

Set up in 2007 by and for cohousing groups, is the voice of cohousing and leading expert in the UK. UKCN advises government on community led housing and its role in New Towns. UKCN has published the Practical Guide to Cohousing in the UK and has carried out significant research on the need for community building and enabling work to dovetail housing development. Funded by the Nationwide Foundation we are now looking to turn this into a service offer to support current and future cohousing communities.

Partnership with Housing 21

Housing 21 brings its expertise in affordable housing for older people and its strategic commitment to work with POC and BAME communities to expand access to inclusive, community-led homes. This new service will become a core offer for both organisations, building confidence among delivery partners and communities, while creating a clear pathway to accelerate cohousing delivery at scale

Purpose of the Consultancy

We are seeking a consultant or small team with strong service design and ideally experience / interest in cohousing/community building to work with UKCN and Housing 21 to:

• Design a modular, structured service offer that can be launched by the end of the contract period – comprising three components:

1. A recruitment service for developers, housing associations and community groups to recruit future cohousing residents.
2. A coaching and training offer to support group formation and governance.
3. An online education programme on group formation and governance.

During this time, we will need to –

Prototype and test the service components with experienced cohousing groups and sector partners.

Develop a costed and scalable delivery model with the tools, content and materials needed for UKCN and Housing 21 teams (and partners) to deliver the services directly

Key Activities

• Review and synthesis
  – Draw on UKCN’s existing research, leadership insights and lived experience from member groups.
  – Map feedback from developers, housing associations and cohousing groups to inform design.
• Service design and development
  – Define the service components and user journey for recruitment, coaching and online education.
  – Identify user groups, delivery pathways and value propositions.
• Co-design and prototyping
  – Run structured co-design sessions with sector partners and pilot groups.
  – Test activities and content and refine based on feedback.
• Finalisation and delivery model
  – Develop a costed, scalable delivery model, including pricing structure, delivery pathways (in-house, licensed associate or hybrid) and a practical implementation toolkit

Outputs:

• A clear service design blueprint mapping the user journey from recruitment through to community formation and learning.
• Three connected, operational service components (recruitment, coaching/training, online education) with supporting content and materials.
• A costed delivery and pricing model, ready to implement.
• A practical implementation toolkit to support UKCN and Housing 21 in delivering the services at scale.

Skills and Experience

Required

• Strong service research and service design skills — with the ability to turn insight into clear, practical and replicable service models.
• Experience working with small, purpose-driven teams to shape and deliver income-generating services.
• Demonstrated ability to produce toolkits, frameworks and user journeys that can be implemented by others.
• Strong facilitation skills with mixed stakeholder groups, including community members, developers, and partner organisations.

Advantageous / Desired

• Experience designing fee-based services or social enterprise models.
• Familiarity with cohousing, community building or group dynamics.

Budget and Timeline

• Total budget: £15,000 (inc. VAT and expenses)
• Timeline: By January – July 2026, with iterative co-design and testing in spring.
• Flexible, milestone-based contract with agreed deliverables.

How to Apply

Please submit:

• A short proposal (max. 3 pages) outlining your approach, relevant experience and indicative timeline.
• Up to two examples of previous relevant work.
• A short CV (or team bios).
• Day rate and budget breakdown.

Indicative Timeline

The timeline below outlines key phases and activities from recruitment through to finalisation of the service offer. All activities are expected to be completed by the end of May 2026 to enable delivery from June onwards – this can be reconfigured with the contract partner.