La Ciudad Espléndida

After being unemployed in Italy for almost a year Laura* recently decided to make a new beginning in London making use of her savings. She’s got a British university degree, speaks three languages, has a rich work experience and is a very bright and charming lady. What else could London’s job market ask for? Laura would find out soon.

Margaret* is an elderly woman now, four decades ago she came to the UK from a small island in the Caribbean and worked for many years in the judiciary system. During this time she purchased a property in west London where she has entertained family visits and friends; she never married nor had any children. Recently Margaret has been losing her mobility which has made it difficult for her to do many things. As difficult as it might seem for her to admit, she needs help.

Several months after our first contact, Laura arrived to London and since I couldn’t host her I helped her find accommodation with my friend Margaret whom I met as a student while lodging with her parish’s vicar two years ago. My landlord had a tenancy model based on an all-inclusive low weekly lodging fee which I later suggested Margaret to use. Under current housing regulations being a live-in landlord gives them full control of their property since the property is their home, thus making eviction easy in case of extreme necessity.

Of course this puts tenants in a very precarious situation, but unlike other housing arrangements weekly lodging gives them and their guests absolute flexibility and liberty. There is no need for a monthly rent in advance or a rent deposit, which currently are making private renting very expensive for young migrants such as Laura. It also gives lodgers the liberty to move out as soon as they find better accommodation elsewhere. Although optional, offering tenancy agreements with an address are good to help those looking to stay and need to open bank accounts or phone contracts. It is also understood that such a system requires a network of trusted referees who might provide a flow of good customers although this is not always an absolute guarantee as tenancy failure might happen. Luckily, Laura was referred to me by a friend of hers and I referred her to Margaret and as far as I know, it worked well.

Homeshare (which is an accommodation agreement similar to the one Laura and Margaret had) has great potential as a palliative to the housing issue for migrants and a source of practical help to the city’s ageing population. It bridges the home-owning generation with the so called “generation rent” which includes not only young migrants but also local youth to find decent accommodation for a low price (see link).

During her stay in London, Laura became a source of assistance to her landlady as she would make some time out of her job searching duties to help Margaret especially with groceries and moving some items around the house. They became very fond of each other but unfortunately Laura underestimated the time it would take for her to get a new fulfilling job in London and decided to head back home to continue her job applications while saving money as London is a very expensive city.

Certainly this kind of arrangement is not for everyone but as pensions increasingly do not make ends meet for many elderly citizens and access to the housing market has become almost impossible to the youth, in my mind, this is a way for these two generations to help each other. Perhaps this could somehow subvert the housing market bringing prices down on purpose since the aim is not at becoming rich out of this just to supplement or cover expenses. Of course this is just wishful thinking as it would require a critical mass of elderly homeowners that could make their spare rooms and couches available without expecting to make huge profits and for the young to become more charitable towards their elderly landowners.  But the possible generational exchange of experiences and skills could also bring in more benefits.

But clearly not every youngster has the time, patience and training to handle vulnerable elderly people and not every elderly person is in disposition to unsettle their set ways to accommodate to those of their guests. Possibly some training and counselling could help bridge the gap. In this sense local authorities in major cities should consider seriously this kind of arrangements within their strategies to tackle their housing deficit and homelessness problems especially among the young and single migrants. If they haven’t done so, they could build strategic alliances with charitable and social entrepreneurial organisations as an additional option in their menu of policy tools.

The My Home Project is overwhelmed with requests for accommodation and I have been referring these requests to people like Margaret through a Social Enterprise I have started recently with a friend of mine and the support of Il Ponte di Don Calabria called Bridging Generations. If you are interested in becoming part of this network by making your room or couch available or would like to give your economic or intellectual support please contact us! Just leave your details in the comments box. Also like my Facebook Page «The Third World Observer»

In the mean time I hope Laura can come back, London certainly needs people like her. As for Margaret my friend Franco * is moving in soon.

Carlos Solis-Tejada, holds an MSc in Urbanisation & Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is currently the Administrator of the My Home Project in London.

*Names have been changed in order to protect privacy