by Rebecca Lee
Photo WISH – New Grounds Jude Tisdall, speaks to guests.
This June, WISH London hosted an event at New Ground Cohousing in Barnet, the UK’s first senior cohousing community and a rare example of housing genuinely designed with and for older women. These women came together to create a living model that supports independence, social connection, and autonomy well into later life, something we urgently need more of.
At WISH, we regularly host events that support networking and leadership development across the housing sector, but for this spring gathering, we wanted to refocus on what drives us – housing itself. And what better way to do that than by celebrating a project that challenges conventional models and offers a hopeful, empowering alternative for later living.
New Ground was brought to life by a remarkable group of 26 women, who came together to shape the kind of community they wanted to live in – one built on shared values and mutual support. From the start they recognised the power of collective living to reduce isolation and enhance wellbeing.
Pollard Thomas Edwards has been involved in New Ground from early on, helping translate this community vision into architecture that supports their way of life, rather than imposing a top-down model. Patrick Devlin, partner at PTE, who worked on the project from the outset, spoke at the event about the privilege of working with this group and how their clarity and determination made the project what it is today.
Patrick said: “I often describe the women of New Ground as the perfect client, and seeing them growing into the home they codesigned over the last nine years, and increasingly make it their own, has only reinforced that conviction. Shirley Meredeen, one of the founders of New Ground, once said “we’re unique, but we don’t want to be”. Everyone at the lively and well-attended WISH event would agree that they should not remain unique – the model works brilliantly.”
Photo WISH, UKCN’s Chair Neil Stephens explains New Ground’s importance to the cohousing movement.
Together with the UK Cohousing Network, these women also collaborated on the Practical Guide to Cohousing, setting out the key information and steps they wished they’d had at the outset – a generous and impactful resource for others looking to follow in their footsteps.
These women haven’t just built homes, they’ve built a community that reflects their values and needs, where neighbours are friends, and independence thrives alongside mutual support. It’s a model that truly challenges the status quo.
Housing for the third age can and should look like this. Yet projects like New Ground remain rare, underfunded, and under-recognised. We need more developments that are resident-led, cooperative, and designed to foster connection and wellbeing.
At PTE, we’ve always understood the resilience and commitment required to make a project like this happen. All credit goes to the residents for their vision, tenacity, and care. We were simply happy to support them in making it a reality.
The evening was an uplifting and intimate gathering, with WISH members and housing professionals coming together for a guided tour, a short film screening, and plenty of conversation over drinks and a magnificent spread of sandwiches. The event reminded us of how critical it is to work with future residents from the very beginning, people who are fully invested in creating a great place to live.
As a WISH board member and an Associate at PTE, I wanted to organise this event because New Ground is a tangible inspiration and a demonstration of what’s possible when people take control of their housing futures. We’d love to see many more projects like New Ground. The housing sector needs to support resident-led initiatives, and push for alternatives that truly empower older people.
Photo WISH – visitors enjoy the sumptuous allotments cultivated by the New Ground residents.