Property

New co-housing scheme springing up

Photographer Neil Barnes flew his drone to take some top shots of the cohousing project in Bridport. Hazelmead is being built on the north-western edge of Bridport, just north of Allington Hill and next door to the community hospital. It is currently the largest cohousing neighbourhood in the country, offering 53 affordable, ecological homes for sale and to rent. There are seven south-facing terraces of two-, three- and four-bedroom family homes, along with a couple of twostorey apartment blocks of one-bedroom flats. Half of these homes are available to rent through Bournemouth Churches Housing Association (BCHA) while the remaining half are available for shared ownership at 80 per cent leasehold purchase of through the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. In 2008, renting or owning a home in Bridport was fast becoming out of reach for many people, so a group of locals set out to change the face of housing and designed a ‘cohousing neighbourhood’. This group launched Bridport Cohousing and a decade on, the dream of creating a vibrant cohousing neighbourhood is coming to fruition. In July 2021, the group launched a Community Share Offer through Ethex, and now £350,000 has been raised. This money will be used to pay back loans from family and friends, pay BCHA for two guest bedrooms and contribute towards building The Common House. Hazelmead has been designed to be affordable, energyefficient, high quality and supportive. The community will manage Hazelmead. Car-free streets will give children safe spaces to play, The Common House and outdoor areas will offer residents opportunities to socialise, companionship and mutual support. It is hoped houses in the first terrace – the Northeastern block – will be available from August. Already deposits have been taken for three of these homes. And from then the terraces will be released a month at a time, finishing with the apartment blocks in March 2023.

The West Dorset Magazine, April 8, 2022 71 Property A touch of class at Old School House

Misbehaving school children left their mark on this beautiful home in the late 1800s. The Old School House in Evershot is currently on the market with Domvs. A spokesman for the estate agent said: “The unique story of this house is that it was built to be the head teacher’s residence, in conjunction with the village school, in 1874. If you look carefully, you can see the names ‘Molly’ and ‘Ada’ scratched onto one of the original windowpanes by the head teacher’s children. The property has planning permission for a single storey extension. Occupying an approximately half acre plot of land, the master bedroom still features its original Victorian fireplace. For more details contact Domvs on 01305 757300.