Suvana Cohousing Community
Chair’s Report 2026
The last twelve months have been the most significant in Suvana’s nine year history.
This year, the project to develop a new Buddhism-based cohousing community, being delivered by our developer partner TOWN in their joint venture with Hill Residential, has received planning approval. It is now progressing through co-design stages.
At the time of writing, eighteen properties have been informally reserved. Informal reservation is made through Suvana once people have read and agreed with our vision statement and the current version of our Community Agreement. The latter is a working document, and can be amended by the community once we are living in Suvana, should the need arise. We pass details of the informal reservations to Town, who send an invoice for £750 which will be transferred to Suvana at completion for furnishing the common house, starting the car club, planting the garden, buying equipment, and so on, all the things which will start to make the common house feel like home. Once we are a bit further on in the process a second £750 is paid, and then the formal reservation fee of £2,500. At that point customisation details will be taken, things like the colour of tiles, the kitchen design, and whether an en suite is required. Three months before completion a 10% deposit is a binding contract with TOWN.
Some Suvana cocreators at the Annual General Meeting on 31st October 2026
Over the last twelve months we have developed a system of working groups for matters such as kitchen and common house, reservers and communications. These are all co-ordinated at the Thursday evening meetings. It’s not quite sociocracy, but it’s our version of working towards it.
Our cocreator numbers continue to fluctuate, increasing gradually over time. We are always sad to see cocreators decide that Suvana is not for them, or that they need somewhere to live sooner and cannot wait for its completion. We are delighted to meet new cocreators who join us and to get to know them. There has been greater demand for small apartments, which is what is expected, as families tend to buy the larger properties later in the process. We are very glad we already have several families keen to live at Suvana and we hope soon to have more.
It was disappointing to learn that Hill have decided to delay the start of the build programme until the town centre plans have been progressed further. We very much hope this will not be too long into the future. Meanwhile cocreators are meeting regularly and working together to bring Suvana forward, attract new cocreators who wish to reserve properties, and attend to the next few co-design sessions.
The Communications Working Group have worked extremely hard this year. As well as keeping the website up to date with events, sales and news stories; and things like Instagram and printed materials, the biggest focus is producing emails. Cocreator Updates are issued almost monthly and Newsletters go to a much bigger audience of 700+ subscribers who’ve expressed interest in Suvana. They have also set up introductory sessions and arranged in person sessions in events such as Buddhafield and the Triratna Order Convention. There are Slack channels and a WhatsApp group. There are regular social events which help cocreators get to know each other in person and not just at our business-based meetings online. We have attended open days at Northstowe organised by TOWN, which are for both Suvana and The Hive (our neighbouring cohousing community the other side of the lane). We are holding monthly online introductions to Suvana, and have some in person events both completed and in the pipeline to take to Buddhist centres in London and East Anglia.
In July Maitrivajri led a land blessing ritual, which was attended by about 30 future residents and supporters. Social events and get togethers have become more regular this year, with monthly events, such as meeting at the Northstowe Tap & Social, or for a meal or a film. It’s great getting to know people better and starting to build sangha in advance of moving in. Next year we are planning a weekend retreat at Rivendell in Sussex, and LILAC Cohousing in Leeds have very kindly offered us some of their houses for a weekend they will be away together in May, so we can try out cohousing for real!
Another project that is starting to get off the ground is the rental homes project. We successfully applied for a grant of three days’ support from the Co-op Bank, which we are using to clarify the legal form for a start-up to buy homes at Suvana and rent out to people who couldn’t otherwise afford to live there, and also to draft an investment offer to people who could help fund this.
Tejasvini
Chair, Suvana Cohousing Community
28th October 2026
Suvana Cohousing Community
Treasurer’s Report 2026
We are very grateful to Anne Dowden for preparing our accounts last year and to Jyotikari for being our current bookkeeper. Particular thanks to Vimaladipa for putting the accounts into a presentable form and sorting out the discrepancies.
We have two NatWest accounts, a current account and a savings account.
Current account:
opening balance: £620
Closing balance £1069.
Savings account:
opening balance: £3506
closing balance: £5540.
Our income derives from the £75 cocreator fee which is paid annually. We pay Squarespace for handling this and the website, We also pay for a service to send emails.
The communications team have worked incredibly hard this year, alongside some support from TOWN.
If there is anything left in our bank account by the time of completion it will contribute to furnishing the common house.
We are currently looking for someone to take on the role of treasurer as it has been temporarily carried by the Chair.
Tejasvini
Treasurer, Suvana Cohousing Community
28th October 2026
Suvana Cohousing Limited
Chair’s Report 2026
Suvana Cohousing Limited has been in dormancy for the year to 31/5/26.
Tejasvini
Treasurer, Suvana Cohousing Ltd
28th October 2026
Suvana Cohousing Limited
Treasurer’s Report 2026
In the financial year ending 31st May 2026, there was no activity on the account.
Triodos Bank account balance: £190.11
Tejasvini
Treasurer, Suvana Cohousing Ltd
28th October 2026
Join us on for the next online open evening or one of our in-person events
Join as a cocreator.
Posted 4 November 2026