Property Overview
**Eco Property**
A four/five bedroom maisonette, part of a co-housing community in the village of
Laughton in the heart of the South Downs....
Property Description
A four/five bedroom maisonette, part of a co-housing community in the village of Laughton in the heart of the South Downs. Laughton Lodge is on the edge of the village and the property has the advantage of sharing 23 acres of community land with the possibility of vegetable growing, (allotments and poly tunnel,) lounging in the wild flower meadow, joining the horse club, walking in the woods, playing in the tree house, camping or enjoying a full size football field.
There is a large community building with kitchen and dining room, large hall for parties, rehearsals, a music room, a games room, and potential office/studio space, for your own private use as well as communal use. Lots of communal activities for adults and children, shared childcare, car sharing possible.
The village has a primary school and the secondary school is three miles away. Steiner Schools and the Dharma school are twelve miles away. There are lots of social events in the village and there is a lively, well-stocked village shop, Post Office and Pub. Brighton twelve miles, London 53 miles, trains straight to London from Glynde (3 miles away) Lewes (5 miles) Uckfield (5 miles) Glyndbourne 2 miles, surrounded by South Downs walks from the front door through bluebell woods up to the hills.
for purchasers
The Community Project is a group of people who have jointly purchased a hospital and
converted it into individual houses and flats. Three large 1930s buildings have been
converted into 16 homes and 4 new houses have been built. The 23 acres of land and a
few other buildings provide communal facilities for the group. There is no specific
ideology that defines the group and whilst maintaining the privacy of individual homes
we aim to live co-operatively as neighbours, jointly managing the land and communal
facilities to foster an enjoyable, supportive community environment. As an intentional
community our leases and organisation have been developed with that aim in mind. This
means that purchasing a flat or house within the project differs from an ordinary house
purchase, as you are not only buying a property but also becoming a member of a
community. We hope the following helps explain the process.
Purchasing a property
You purchase property leasehold on a very long lease. Mortgages can be obtained in the
normal way. On purchase you become a Director of the Community Project Ltd. which
holds the freehold of the land and all the buildings. All the land is owned communally
but people create gardens and patios outside their homes. The lease is very particular
to the CP and as such probably more restrictive than usual (for example, the process
for selling the property is detailed in the lease). You may want to discuss this with your
solicitor.
The CP maintains the fabric of the property you are purchasing, and all the
maintenance of the communal buildings and the land, a monthly service charge
payable to the CP covers this. The management of the residential and communal
buildings is undertaken by the residents directly, we do not use an external
management company.
Finding out about the Community Project
We invite you to come and see us working and socialising as a group at a regular
‘pot-luck’ supper (Friday nights), a work day (1st Sunday in the month) or at a
monthly business meeting. We strongly recommend that you come to an
information session on the legal and financial structure of the Community Project. In
case people don’t get the chance to meet you it’s helpful if you send in some
information about yourself/your family, no more than 1 side of A4.
Contacting us
If you are interested in joining us we suggest you read our information pack which
details our history, organisation and current residents. You can obtain this by emailing
newmembers@thecommunityproject.com or looking us up on the Cohousing web site
www.cohousing.co.uk. During the purchase you can contact either: Simon/Rachel
(vendors) 01323 815 742 or Jed (from the community) 01323 815 704 (or 07930
400798 or jedski@mac.com)
