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Intergenerational Housing

Type of document:

Information sheet

Author(s):

“Habitat and humanism” name of the organization

Publisher:

Target audience

Isolated elderly people

Objective

What is the aim/objective of this document?

Generational housing is for everyone and for all ages. The elderly can find a more secure and lively environment.

The housing meets the specific needs of these different generations. Common areas that can be used by all allow the building’s inhabitants to meet each other.

At the heart of intergenerational housing projects are:

values of solidarity between generations, between neighbors
a desire to reduce the isolation of students and the elderly
the desire to offer a better quality of life to the inhabitants.

Location /geographical coverage

It has been experimented in France all around the territory, Habitat and Humanism has implemented 17 house in France including 9 in the region Ile-de-France (near Paris), and other rural area.

Introduction

In France, more than 14 out of 100 people live below the national poverty line. Among them, certain groups are more represented. Firstly, young people who have low incomes and spend 22% of it on housing (compared to 9% for 45–59-year-olds). Then there are single-parent families whose median monthly standard of living is 30% lower than that of couples with children. But also, the elderly, whose precarity, less visible, is often linked to living conditions (loneliness, dilapidated or inadequate housing, digital precarity).

While housing can reflect social inequalities, it can also be an accelerator of it. Almost 6 million people spend more than 35% of their income on housing. But beyond this financial precariousness, for some people it is isolation that is strongly felt.

Partner(s) and Stakeholders

For the past 10 years, in response to the problems of isolation and precarity, particularly those linked to age, Habitat et Humanism has been experimenting with intergenerational housing that brings together people of different ages and situations (seniors, young people, families, particularly single-parent families), all of whom are isolated and have limited resources. The aim is to create a dynamic of conviviality and neighbourhood solidarity, conducive to living together and to the integration of each person, and in the case of the elderly, to maintaining a home environment.

The project is implemented thanks to an association “Habitat and Humanisme”.

Methodological Approach

In 2017, Habitat et Humanisme opened 17 intergenerational habitats in France. Even if the real estate arrangement may vary, it always includes independent housing and shared spaces (common room, laundry room, garden, etc.). This structure and the regular presence of volunteers and employees of the Movement encourage meetings, conviviality and the exchange of services. Thus, the residents are both contributors and beneficiaries of this dynamic, which is particularly conducive to the integration of everyone: a feeling of usefulness, breaking isolation, exchanges of experience and neighbourhood solidarity, etc.

Validation

Confirmation by the beneficiaries that the practice addresses the needs properly:

Encourage a mix of ages but also of vulnerabilities to avoid the accumulation of disadvantages and encourage intergenerational solidarity.
Adopt a concerted approach throughout the planning and construction process in order to take account of social needs, particularly the fight against isolation.
Create synergies in relation to medico-social support services that encourage mutual aid and autonomy (social care, socio-cultural activities, organization of exchanges of services in the neighborhood, etc.) and develop support methods that meet the needs of people according to their degree of dependence.
Anticipate the change or adaptation of housing, as the older we get, the more difficult it is to change our habits.
Designing spaces to encourage older people to leave their homes by making it safer for them to move around, creating community meeting places and ensuring the proximity of attractive places.

Impact

create a dynamic of social interaction
neighbourhood solidarity, encouraging people to live together
promotes the integration of everyone,
allows elderly people to maintain their independence at home

Innovation and Success Factors

Setting up an appropriate organisation: staff with well-defined roles (social support or monitoring, rental management, community activities, etc.), operational/regulatory bodies (residence council, shared accommodation council, etc.)
Rigorous selection of candidates given the specific social project of these habitats, it is essential to ensure that there is support for the project, and even an appetite for a community experience.
Careful attention to ensure that the accommodation meets the individual needs according to their age, their living situation, etc., while at the same time favouring the collective dimension of the project.

Constraints

The challenges that older people might face are:

adapting to life in a community
respect between neighbours
keeping everyone’s independence

Lessons learned

The intergenerational housing and the regular presence of volunteers and employees encourage meetings, conviviality, and the exchange of services.

Thus, the residents are both contributors and beneficiaries of this dynamic, which is particularly conducive to the integration of everyone: a feeling of usefulness, breaking isolation, exchanges of experience and neighbourhood solidarity, etc.

Sustainability

This good practice implies a very structured framework and a dedicated organisation for such a project.

The association “Habitat Humanisme” is a major contributor in this field and social housing is its main activity. This is why it is a reliable project that promises to develop over time, as intergenerational houses are very successful.

The total costs of setting up such a project are quite high. It also depends on the availability of people to make their homes available to participate and fight against isolation.

For the elderly, a framework is put in place which allows them to be given priority if their living situation is precarious, and numerous social aids are deployed.

Replicability and/or up-scaling What are the possibilities of extending the good practice more widely?

Such initiatives need to be more widely known and implemented. The idea of intergenerational work to enable older people to keep an active life and to fight against social isolation is important for their health.

Conclusion

All the testimonies of people living in intergenerational structures are positive. Contact and interaction in daily life are the key to isolation and active ageing.

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