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Frequently
Asked Questions
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Cohousing Get involved Properties and facilities Buying a home Norwich Media and information
Cohousing
Angel Yard’s residents will own their own home just like in any street. Shared facilities such as the common house, outside space, corridors and lift will be owned and managed by Sussex Street Cohousing CIC (Community Interest Company), whose members and directors are our resident households. The freehold of the apartments will also be owned by Sussex Street Cohousing CIC, so as a group we will be responsible for setting the service charge and managing e.g. insurance and maintenance.
We believe that everyone's opinion is important, so decisions are made, whenever possible, by group consensus, during regular meetings. This does take time, but also enables us to act in the interests of the community.
Put simply, we are a group of people building our own houses and building our community. If you join us, your involvement will start now, before the scheme is even built, and you will be encouraged to join in.
We expect all future residents to take part in the meetings, decision-making and the compromises that are needed to guide the project towards completion. Along the way we'll get to know one another, learn to work together and benefit from the different skills and life experience that each of us brings.
Whilst there’s no expectation that residents commit to every group meal or attend all community meetings, each household should be willing to play an active role in the community, perhaps by helping to cook some shared meals or washing up afterwards, or by tending to the allotment or helping with admin tasks. Inevitably there will be meetings to take part in to help run the community.
If you’re considering taking the leap to this alternative way of living, it may be useful to ask yourself some key questions:
Can you afford to own your own home or pay a mortgage?
Can you compromise with people who may have different views from yours?
Can you live with people of different ages and from different backgrounds?
Do you have any additional needs to discuss?
Would you be comfortable to share some facilities and possessions?
Can you commit the time required to living in a cohousing group?
Cohousing
Get involved
Our cohousing community is for anyone, of any age, from any background, who wants to live as part of a sustainable neighbourhood. We don't have a vetting system or choose our members, but we encourage everyone to read our information, meet us and ask questions, so that you understand how our project works before commiting to membership.
Angel Yard’s community is a growing mix of working and retired people from Norwich, Cambridge and further afield. We are seeking to build a diverse community of families, partners and individuals, who are socially and environmentally-minded.
The earlier you get involved, the more you'll feel a part of your future neighbourhood. A cohousing community starts way before the buildings are constructed - we need to get used to working together, making decisions and negotiating as a group. Once we move in we'll be in charge! It's also a great time to socialise and find out a little about each other's history and interests.
Definitely! Families are a key part of a cohousing community and there’s lots of evidence to suggest that children and teenagers of all ages can thrive in a close-knit neighbourhood. We are planning to have a central shared, car-free garden at the heart of Angel Yard, and multipurpose indoor shared spaces, where children can play together safely.
You may find this video from LILAC Cohousing informative.
Our residents are likely to be fully participating members of the local community, working or volunteering in Norwich, attending events and making use of the city on our doorstep.
The local area of St Augustine's already has a lively local residents' association for members to get involved in, and Norwich is full of groups, clubs, campaigns, associations and schools that would welcome more members.
We certainly do! We host welcome events for people interested in becoming members and, once Angel Yard opens, we hope to host occasional community events in our common house.
We list upcoming events here. If there are no events listed and you’d like to meet our group, please do get in touch.
Get Involved
Properties, facilities, finance and sustainability
Properties and facilities
We are planning to build 34 homes. There will be a mix of houses and apartments, and they will all be fully self-contained with their own front door, kitchen and bathrooms (which means that they will be mortgageable). The apartments will be one, two and three bed, and a generous 55 to 90 square metres; the three bed houses will be just over 100 square metres.
All homes will be dual aspect, so that there is plenty of light and ventilation.
Sussex Street, where our site is located, is very close to the city centre and within the old medieval walls; as a result space is tight, but we have made the most of what we have with a large shared internal garden. Some of our members like to grow food, so we have also taken on a set of allotments at our nearest allotment site.
Although we are an urban project we are lucky to have a lot of parks and green spaces nearby, including Gildencroft, Wensum and Waterloo Parks, Train Wood, Anderson's Meadow, and Sweetbriar Marshes nature reserve.
Although we are categorised as a 'group self-build' scheme, we are not expecting residents to get involved in construction*. Our group has engaged a management contractor whose job is to appoint subcontractors to carry out the construction work. We have a team of professional consultants on board, bringing expertise to all aspect of the build process.
*There may be an opportunity to fit your own kitchen, rather than have the standard one that will be on offer, if you choose that option.
Not private ones, no. We have nine car parking spaces and are planning to reserve five of them for 'pool cars' that can be shared by residents, with the rest for visitors and deliveries. Because of our city centre location, space is tight and adding more parking spaces would mean losing our shared garden.
There are some alternative options: renting in private car parks or renting a garage or parking space from the City Council. We also have a public Car Club in Norwich with a variety of vehicles available.
Yes, all residents will be the private owners of their own home. The flats will be leasehold, and the houses will be freehold. The shared facilities and outside spaces will be owned and managed by a community interest company, of which all resident householders will be members.
In general no. The members living at Angel Yard will own or be buying their homes. Under some circumstances owners may rent out their homes in the future, but not in the short term.
Construction will start in the latter half of 2026 and will take 18 months to practical completion. Buyers need to be ready to complete their purchase on that date, so may need to sell their current home in advance of moving to Angel Yard - perhaps renting or staying with family or friends - unless they are able to arrange finance to cover an overlap. We can talk you through this.
The major design decisions have now been taken, but there will be further opportunities to decide on details, fixtures and fittings. The sooner you join the more opportunities you will have to influence design.
Internal decorations will always be up to the homeowner, of course, and the common house arrangement and landscape planting will decided by residents.
All of the flats and houses have door widths and bathroom dimensions to make them wheelchair accessible, and there are toilets on the ground floor of the houses. There is a lift that serves all of the flats in the apartment buildings, and the common house and garden will be wheelchair accessible. We can discuss the possibility of installing a wet room or specific fittings in the bathroom of your home.
One of the parking spaces has extra space all round for ease of access, and we will be able to store adapted bikes / trikes and mobility scooters in our cycle parking store.
We’d love to welcome pets as part of our neighbourhood, however we respect that they’re not for everyone and therefore will most likely need to be kept out of the common house. Pets are part of the family and you'll be welcome to bring your pet with you when you join us, but there may be limits on where they are free to go. Indoor pets will be entirely up to the homeowner.
Our Pets Policy has been agreed by members and is posted on our Our Project page.
Buying a home
To summarise, the steps are:
- pay the £1500 community payment to informally reserve one of the available homes. This payment will be credited to your first year's service charge after move-in;
- sign a 'Promise to Purchase' agreement two months before construction starts, with a payment of between 2.6% and 2.8% of the purchase price;
- exchange contracts via your solicitor, paying the balance (0.2% to 0.4%) that brings your deposit to three percent of purchase price;
- complete on the day you move in.
After construction starts the steps will change slightly. Our group members are happy to talk you through this process in more detail.
Yes, we are ensuring that the homes will be mortgageable. As we draft the lease we are mindful to make sure that it is written in such a way that it will be acceptable to mortgage lenders.
We;re aware that Ecology Building Society currently offer mortgages for cohousing buyers.
The flats will be leasehold and we are aiming to create 999 year leases. The houses will be freehold, with a covenant that sets out terms regarding e.g. a service charge to contribute towards the running costs of the common facilities.
If you are in a position to do so, we are encouraging buyers to exchange contracts early by offering a 2% discount on the purchase price if you exchange during the 'early exchange window' (dates tba). The reason is that having a large number of early exchangers is helpful for our costs going forward.
Early exchange will probably not be available to any buyers who need a mortgage, since mortgage offers only last for three to six months.
Yes, like any new home there will be a ten year warranty.
The property needs to be your main residence for the first three years. The situation after that is still subject to discussion - we want to be as flexible as possible to residents' needs, while being aware that having a lot of, for instance, AirBnb homes could have a negative impact on the community.
The property needs to be your main residence for three years after construction, as those are the terms of our 'self-build' exempton from Community Infrastructure Levy. That doesn't mean that you can't sell in that period, but if you do you will be required to pay back the CIL exemption - around 2.6%-2.8% of the purchase price.
If or when you eventually decide to sell your home and move on, it will be exactly the same as selling any residential property. You may wish to make use of our waiting list of prospective buyers, but that, and the price you sell at, would be entirely at your discretion.
Buying a home
Norwich
Norwich
Our home is in Norwich, a medieval city in the East of England, UK.
There’s a reason that Norwich is known as a ‘Fine City’. It’s regularly listed as one of the ‘happiest places to live’ in the UK. Its unique history, thriving culture, excellent university and enviable location make its residents fiercely independent. Norwich has always been a creative city and is a UNESCO city of literature.
Find out more about Norwich
Yes! Norwich is regularly listed as one of the safest cities to live in the UK.
There are primary and secondary schools very close to Angel Yard. To find out more about schools go to the Norfolk County Council website at:
https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/education-and-learning
Norwich is establishing a reputation as a major digital hub, with a vibrant, fast-growing community of tech businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs.
It’s also home to a huge number of independent makers, creators, business owners and freelancers, who bring a uniquely creative vibe to the city.
Some of the city’s largest employers include the University of East Anglia (UEA), Norfolk County Council, Aviva, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the Norwich Research Park.
Media and information
Media and information
We’ve shared some information on our Cohousing page For further details, we recommend visiting UK Cohousing, or taking a look at the websites of some established cohousing communities in the UK, such as:
Marmalade Lane, Cambridge
LILAC, Leeds
Lancaster Cohousing.
Take a look at our Contact Us page and get in touch if you have any questions.
Because we are at such a busy stage just now, unfortunately we are unlikely to have the time to respond to research enquiries. Once we are more settled we'll be delighted to answer emails from students and researchers.
Yes, we’d love to promote Angel Yard and raise awareness of cohousing more generally. Please drop us a line and we’ll be in touch to arrange a chat.
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