GrumbleSmiles

Only a few days ago I was advocating a new form of house which could provide for the extended family; a several generation household instead of the fragmented family option of Granny in the downsized flat and the grown up kids in a rented waiting room, in housing limbo until the family house is sold by the parents to put deposits down on homes for the children.  (See previous blog by clicking on “RETIREMENT HOUSING” in the Topics List).

I had forgotten another housing option, one which was quite common in equally austere and housing-shortaged Britain after the Second World War.  The lodger was a common addition to many households as a way of supplementing income and filling a spare room.  No need for a bedroom tax in those days, people automatically thought of using under-occupied rooms.

We had a succession of managers from Woolworths (Woollies) Department Store who I remember brought me sweets home.  Then there were the shoe shop managers, all stepping up the shoe shop management ladder, one shop at a time.  No free shoes that I can remember, but I did get to play in the Clarks shoe shop and see my feet in the X-ray machine.  I remember Uncle Glyn who was a great cartoonist who drew lots of Disney characters for my bedroom wall.  Then there was big David Rowlands – a Rugby player who had to duck to get through the doors in the house.  I am sure he was 7’ 6” with feet as big as dinner plates.

Lodgers bring back lots of happy childhood memories.  So maybe the multi-generation family long house could be extended to provide for a few lodgers.

A recent survey by LV=, the home insurer, found that twice as many homeowners are taking in lodgers to make ends meet, compared to 5 years ago.  The average rent for a spare room in the Midlands was £201 for a month, in London it was £345.

P.s.     My Dad used to collect insurance door to door every fortnight for the Liverpool Victoria before it became posh and unrecognisable as LV=.      Now, it is all online and no friendly face calls at the door any more.     Progress of a sort, but insurance is not cheaper.    Nonetheless. I’ll bet LV= has a glossy, glassy, swanky HQ office and I don’t suppose their managers lodge in people’s houses anymore.

There is a new type of housing needed to meet the changing needs of extended families.

In previous generations, the 2 or 3 bed family house was the aspiration of most people, it provided a home for a couple to have a family and gave them accommodation for twenty years until the kids grew up and left home.  Then Mum and Dad were left to rattle around in their empty nest.

Now things have changed, even if the kids leave home to further their education, they often return because they cannot afford a home of their own.  If Mum and Dad are really lucky, the kids may bring home a new family of their own:-)   The shortage of housing;  the rising cost of property;  ever tightening mortgage criteria and the bedroom tax all make moving away from home more difficult.

Then of course there is Granny, who may well have a downsized home of her own, but needs some help and support from her family to stay independent.

According to the National House Building Council, 3.3 million adults aged 20-34 are living with their parents.   A further 510,000 people aged 35-64 are also still living at home.  There were nearly 400,000 multi-generational homes in the UK in 2011.

The current fragmented housing market is still made up of four basic house types :-  family housing for the two generation household;  first time buyer one bed houses for couples without children;  shared flats for young single people and a pokey retirement home for Granny.

How about pooling the extended family resources to build a sort of “long house” (like native houses used to be in Borneo), one which could provide for three or even four generations?  Mum and Dad downsized in their own home,  Granny in the Granny flat – a live-in Nanny for the youngest generation;  and the grown up kids with their own space which gradually takes over more of the accommodation as their family expands.

Probably a nightmare of family tensions on occasion, but an intergenerational mutual support system most of the time.