Ruth Hessey speaks with Caitlin McGee, research director in housing futures at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) at the University of Technology Sydney about the growing movement of collaborative housing.

Collaborative housing enables residents to share costs and pool resources. But its residents also benefit from living in a connected, supported community, while allowing every household its privacy, security and financial autonomy.

“We lost the extended family setups we lived in years ago, and we are wanting to get that back,” says Caitlin. Collaborative housing is a great way of battling the rising risk of social isolation and housing affordability.

But according to Caitlin, living in some form of collaborative housing can be beneficial at all stages of life. The ISF study led to the creation of the Collaborative Housing Guide, a free website that is an excellent resource for those interested in learning more about the subject: www.collaborativehousing.org.au.