Staying in control

Keeping control of our lives – Mutual Retirement Housing.  Wales has an ageing society.  Improved health services and better diets mean that people are living longer.  Nowadays there are more pensioners than youngsters under 18 years.  But the birth rate has also fallen.  So the proportion of older people will get even bigger.  Where are we all going to live?  Some older people may have to move into a care home for health reasons.  But most of us will continue to live at home.  Some may want to buy something that is more manageable and affordable.  As we get older our housing needs change. Our homes are no longer fit for purpose; – too many stairs, cold draughty bedrooms, expensive to heat, etc.

Mutual Retirement Housing could help here.  It would provide specially designed housing for older people which is jointly owned and managed by the residents themselves.  Loneliness and social isolation are also big issues for many older people.  Many live on their own and can go for days without talking to anyone other than the TV and the cat.  In co-operative housing schemes, we have found that older residents tend to look out for each other and provide companionship for those who feel in need of it.  But everyone still has their own front door key.  They don’t have to join in socials if they don’t want to.  But there’s always someone about if they need help or are feeling lonely.  Self management bolsters people’s self confidence and can reduce dependency.

Two types mutual retirement housing would be provided using existing commonhold and mutual home ownership models.  With commonhold schemes, everyone buys their own flat but jointly own the common parts and the land.  These schemes should be self-financing as the funds come from the sales of the residents existing properties.  When they move in the residents join a commonhold association which co-operatively manages the property.  This should help to keep service charges down.  With mutual home ownership schemes, the flats are built on land owned by a community land trust.  All the residents belong to MHO society which is run as a co-op.  MHO is suitable for people who can’t afford to buy their flats outright.

Mutual retirement housing would increase the nation’s housing stock at little or no cost to the public purse.  Much needed family-sized homes would be freed up as ‘empty nesters’ downsize.  Mutual Housing is not new to Wales: – much of the housing in the RhonddaValleywas built by co-operative ‘building clubs’ in the 19^th century.  Around the time of the First World War, several Garden City schemes inWales were built using co-operative principles.  Recently Community Housing Mutuals have been set up throughout Wales following the mutualisation of council housing.  High quality co-operative retirement schemes are commonplace in continental countries like Holland,Germany andScandinavia.  Similarly condominium apartments are very popular in Florida and other parts of the USA.  So let us adapt tried and trusted co-operative methods to improve the quality of life of our senior citizens here in Wales.

Glyn Thomas is the vice –chair of CDS co-ops which is the largest secondary housing co-op in the UK managing approximately 4000 homes for over 40 fully mutual housing co-ops in London and the South East.  He was born and bred in Treorchy in theRhonddaValley.