More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Living with your whole family under one roof may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
But for The Cotters, who for the past year have been living as three generations in a seven-bed property in Margate, life doesn’t get any better.
With the Walton-esque set-up, the busy family find sharing bills, childcare and juggling work patterns much easier.
“It’s lovely,” said Liz Cotter, an NHS trauma nurse.
“It’s the old way of living. I think a lot of people are missing out.”
The unique living arrangement was created through a scheme, pioneered by Kent County Council and Thanet Council, looking to find new ways of tackling the housing crisis.
When the dilapidated 12a Dalby Square in Cliftonville was bought by KCC for £150,000, housing chiefs decided that instead of turning it into flats as they usually would, they would make the five-storey terrace into a home for multi-generational living.
Almost £1 million was spent, including buying the property and converting it into an environmentally-friendly home, with seven bedrooms, three kitchens, three bathrooms, three living rooms and a private garden.
When an advert for the multi-generation experiment came out, Liz saw it and jumped at the chance.
She, her partner Richard, a chef, her son Dan, daughter Charli, a single mum with Poppy, six, and Liz’s brother Andrew now all live together, instead of paying rent at three separate properties as they were before.
And the family, which privately rents the house from KCC, hasn’t looked back.
They save money by sharing the cost of living - around £1,750 a month plus bills - and they say three-generation living helps them to improve their work-life balance.
"It’s an amazing opportunity really. It’s lovely. I’d stay forever..." Liz Cotter
The house, they say, is big enough for them to not feel like they’re living in each other’s pockets, but flexible enough for them to socialise.
“Our first Christmas in the house was fantastic because, for the first time, we had space for a large tree and to host friends and family,” said Liz.
“It’s an amazing opportunity really. It’s lovely. I’d stay forever.
“When we can’t look after ourselves, the children can do it. That’s the plan.”
Cllr Helen Whitehead, cabinet member for housing and safer neighbourhoods at Thanet council, says in changing times it is vital to look a new ways of housing.
“This cross sector project, the first of its kind in the country, set out to tackle the challenges of climate change, an ageing population and housing shortages by renovating and converting a dilapidated Victorian former hotel in Margate for multi-generational living,” she said.
“It shows that it is possible to renovate and convert housing in a sensitive and socially relevant way to help address these challenges and points a way forward for bringing existing properties back into use.
“We hope this will be a prototype for similar regeneration challenges, particularly in other historic coastal locations with a legacy of larger older buildings and poor housing conditions.”
Academics at the University of Kent are monitoring the environmental impacts and benefits as well as the social side.
