Push for greater co-housing design in SA to combat rising loneliness

Would you live with strangers to combat loneliness? A modern take on a 1960s Danish is gaining momentum across Adelaide.

Living in a house with strangers is one way to combat the growing modern pandemic of loneliness – and it is working for some Adelaide residents.

But rather than your traditional flatmate or share house situation, these people are living in a “co-house”.

Co-housing Association of SA founder Fuzzy Trojan said each co-house was purpose-built to suit the tenants.

Mr Trojan and wife Penny Peng share a house in Windsor Gardens with telecommunications executive Varun Pahwa.

Mr Pahwa said the co-housing experience was perfect, following his separation from his wife.

“Living alone would’ve meant a lonely, boring life which would’ve certainly deteriorated my mental health and I might have paid two to three times more (for housing),” Mr Pahwa said.

“Co-housing has helped me build meaningful relationships, reduce consumerism, wastage and, most importantly, stay mentally healthy.”

Fuzzy Trojan, the founder of the Co-Housing Association of SA (COHASA), lives in a house in Windsor Gardens with co-habitors, Varun Pahwa (L), and Penny Peng, (R), at the Windsor Gardens house. 12 March 2021. Picture Dean Martin

Mr Trojan said co-housing was one of the best solutions for loneliness. “It builds a close-knit community and we all become much more than neighbours – we really help each other and care for one another,” he said.

Mr Trojan is designing a second co-house on the Esplanade, at West Beach, for six “shareholders” – himself and Ms Peng, a family of three, and a single woman. They will live under the same roof by 2022.

Co-housing originated from a 1960s commune in Denmark.

At the West Beach house, Mr Trojan said each shareholder would have their own larger-than-standard studio bedroom with a separate bathroom and space for a sitting area.

Dining and loungerooms, laundry and garden are shared as is the kitchen which has individual cupboards.

Uniting Communities, which wants to establish an SA Commission for Overcoming Loneliness, said future residential estates and suburbs need to better encourage meeting places for people to connect.

“Surveys show that over half of all South Australians feel lonely often or sometimes, so appropriate co-housing … can significantly reduce loneliness,” Uniting Communities advocacy and communications manager Mark Henley said.