Everyone can be a winner

For Paul Cann it is the solution that Oxford has simply been waiting to happen. After all the agonising over expanding Oxford, building on the Green Belt and creating new towns, just imagine being able to put a dent in Oxford’s shortage of affordable homes without having to lay a single brick.

And if that were not remarkable enough, how about a scheme that at the same time addresses the problem of loneliness for hundreds of elderly people across the city.

The answer to so many of the city’s problems being outlined to me by Mr Cann, chief executive of Age UK Oxfordshire, is the newly-launched Homeshare programme. From September it will begin matching young people seeking a place to live with older people who have a spare room and could do with a bit of a helping hand.

It is not a new idea. But for the first time outside London, a scheme is being launched with significant funding while being overseen by a well established organisation, much respected by local pensioners.

Age UK Oxfordshire is to receive £172,000 over three years from Lloyds Bank Foundation and the Big Lottery Fund to spearhead a Homeshare pilot scheme.

As a city facing the parallel issues of a lack of affordable housing for young people and a growing number of older people feeling isolated and in need of practical support and companionship, it is easy to see why Oxford has been chosen.

“Well, if it can work anywhere, it can work in Oxford,” declares Mr Cann. Such is his confidence that he hopes to see up to 1,000 young people being housed under the scheme over the next five to 10 years.

These will include students, with the scheme expected to be particularly appealing to postgraduates. But with so many people in Oxford employed in health, education and poorly paid public sector jobs, it will be open also to nurses, teachers, researchers, council staff and various key workers.

In addition to its massive student population and shortage of affordable homes, Mr Cann also points to the significant numbers of large homes in Oxford which may be classed, to use a phrase he heartily dislikes, as under-occupied.

The real beauty of the scheme is its simplicity. In exchange for being accommodated in a spare room the younger party would be expected to provide abut 10 hours of companionship and light domestic help, which would not, however, include personal care.

Both parties would contribute an affordable monthly fee to cover the costs of the scheme and ensure it can remain sustainable in the long term. In Oxford the homesharer will be expected to pay £200 a month, in a city where the average monthly rental figure is about £1,900. The charge for home owner is expected to be no more than £100.

Mr Cann said: “We are currently developing three basic models of placements: academic year, academic term and long-term arrangements. We are focusing on determining the optimum length of time and conditions for home sharing relationships to thrive.”

He points to the fact that the scheme has been successfully run in counties such as France, Spain, Australia and the United States. While it has been introduced in some local communities, in England until now it has remained relatively niche.

Novus Homeshare, however, operated a scheme in Greater London and manages about 50 homesharing relationships. Under the new programme it will receive £183,200 to expand the scheme across London. The total level of investment to develop and evaluate the programmes, and for further pilots, is put at £2m It is hoped the London and Oxford programmes will together go on to put homesharing on the map as a viable solution to rising housing costs and support issues for older people.

Mr Cann, who chairs Age UK’s public policy panel, said: “I have been working with older people for 15 years now and first became aware of homeshare about a decade ago. It has a wonderful win, win, win feel to it. “ He helped ensure that two years ago the Third Homeshare Congress was held at Rewley House, Oxford, attended by 50 delegates from 12 different countries to share ideas.

When Mr Cann in 2004 took the idea to Stephen Ladyman, the then Community Care Minister at the Department of Health, he received an encouraging response.

• Paul Cann

Now, crucially, the funding is in place.

Given that the scheme has the potential to help local councils and major employers with insurmountable problems, Mr Cann said he would be asking Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, both universities and hospital health trusts to make contributions, once the programme had shown its worth.

The project is timely, with Oxford City Council last week launching a consultation to review future housing needs for residents aged 55 and older. Results from the survey, which will run until August 31, along with other data, will be used to help the council plan the provision of housing for older people in Oxford in future years.

Homeshare’s contribution, it is hoped, will be to enable more people to stay in their own homes.

Mr Cann said: “Most of us are living much longer, and we want to really live, continuing to enjoy our lifelong homes and familiar neighbourhoods. We of course recognise that the city and county councils do not have money to spare. But it will be a question of showing them that this can make a difference and it can help with both the housing shortage and ageing population.”

He believes it will represent a sound investment, if as a consequence of homeshare more people do not have to go into care homes or turn up at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, and are able to stay active longer.

“The potential future needs for old people are massive and at a time when reductions in funding for adult social care have been significant.”

The city council earlier showed its enthusiasm by contributing £5,000 to research the feasibility of homeshare in Oxford.

The charity is now in the process of recruiting a manager to drive the project forward. A thorough system of checks will need to be put in place, along with a monitoring system.

Bringing the right individuals together, who can live happily under one roof will perhaps be one of the most difficult challenges.

Rachelle Kennedy, fundraising coordinator at Age UK Oxfordshire, said the charity was already receiving enquiries each week from individuals wanting to take part.

It will not only be local councils watching how the homeshare idea develops in Oxford, but every part of the country with a housing shortage and elderly population.