Eden Ballantyne was attracted by a poster inviting new members to become part of a proposed low impact affordable community. Something that ultimately became Leeds-based LILAC – Low Impact Living Affordable Community. He tells us how he joined about a year before building started. There's lots about the building process; LILAC's complex, but well established mutual home ownership system; how they run things on a day-to-day basis; as well as the balance of privacy and communality in cohousing.

LILAC at Diggers & Dreamers
https://diggersanddreamers.org.uk/community/lilac

LILAC
https://www.lilac.coop/

A sample summary of Mutual Home Ownership
https://www.wrigleys.co.uk/charities-and-social-economy/community-led-housing/mutual-home-ownership-societies-MHOS

Mikaela had lots of experience of co-ops in California before moving to the UK and getting involved in Stirchley Co-operative Development – a group of local people who are building an affordable and eco-friendly residential and community premises in the heart of Stirchley, Birmingham They are developing land on Pershore Road to house three local community premises along with a block of 39 apartments which will ultimately be known as Jessie Eden House.

Jessie Eden House at Diggers & Dreamers
https://diggersanddreamers.org.uk/community/jessie-eden-house

Gung Ho Housing Co-op at Diggers & Dreamers
https://diggersanddreamers.org.uk/community/gung-ho-housing-co-op

Stirchley Co-operative Development
https://stirchley.coop

Green Square Accord
https://greensquareaccord.co.uk

Nat describes her own path to communal living (she wishes that she'd done it years ago) as well as filling us in on the early days of Crabapple in Shropshire. The community at Berrington Hall celebrated its fiftieth birthday in 2025 so there's plenty to hear about the evolution of the place over the last five decades. It may no longer adhere to the ideas of B F Skinner as described in his novel Walden Two but it's still very much thriving.

Crabapple at Diggers and Dreamers
https://diggersanddreamers.org.uk/community/crabapple-community

Crabapple on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/crabapplecommunity/

Walden Two
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Two