A radical solution.
Our ultimate aim is to take a radical approach to living, by building what will be a truly inclusive, genuinely affordable, vibrant, sustainable, not for profit, multi-generational community, for residents in the heart of London. An environment where residents of all abilities, families, singles, young and old, can intentionally live, grow, thrive and support each other - together.
We will bring people together, not set them apart.
How it could look.
The community will have at least one live-in, on-site member of staff, properly trained and properly paid (with consideration for the importance of the role), by Satsuma Neighbour CIC. A ‘caretaker/warden’ or ‘house-sister/brother’ type of role. A consistent, familiar, constant and trustworthy figure who can be turned to for practical support.
‘Mate crime’ or cuckooing and exploitation, are not much talked about, but are depressingly and distressingly commonplace within this group. Our on-site member of staff will therefore be the eyes and ears for the comings and goings within this community.
Having a known, familiar and trusted person there to run uncertainties past, is an absolute essential element of feeling safe and included in this community and a very important part of safeguarding.
Those needing further care and support would bring that in themselves via their care package.
The community would comprise of fully self contained 1-2 bedroom homes, all on genuinely affordable rents, with ground level, publicly accessible, community spaces offering an ongoing vibrant timetable of community activities (for both residents and the wider community) with the potential opportunity of employment for residents.
At the design stage, particular thought and input will be given to creating homes that keep the stresses of sensory sensitivities to a minimum. Proper consideration to tackle sensitivities to lighting and sound, for example.
This community would be close to transport links to make full use of what the city has to offer. Gardens/green space would be an integral part of the design of the development - outdoor space for socialising, gardening, growing food, for use in a possible on-site café, where some residents might enjoy a shared hot meal together and which could also provide employment.
Satsuma Neighbour will be a community that promotes independence for a group of individuals hitherto shut out/segregated from mainstream society.
We have found only one community that is closely alligned with our thinking. It opened in 2020, in Rockville, Maryland, USA – ‘Main Street Connect’ . One of our working group has already visited it.
How it might work.
We are looking to work with investment partners and those with experience within the sectors of building housing and building communities, who respect and share our vision and are excited to create something new and exciting and desperately needed nationwide. Satsuma Neighbour communities could and should be rolled out across the country. There are thousands and thousands of individuals and families across the country for whom this issue is upper most in their minds and who are desperately searching for a fresh way of thinking.
Our proposed community would comprise of only rentable apartments, so the homes will never become a commodity in private ownership, which is when communities begin to fracture.
Rents would be fixed affordable rents or perhaps based on the actual cost of the build (Danish model). The aim here is not to make a profit but to be sustainable and create a flourishing community. We have looked into other housing models that could be adapted for Satsuma Neighbour, such as the Almshouse model, typically only set up for older residents, but could well work for us.
Upon completion, income from public timetable of events within the community space would help aid community running costs. We are in early days, but strongly believe that there is a way to create something new, with new thinking and an aspiration for something so much better and so much more sustainable than already exists.
