Sky News Interview with Chief Executive David Healey
Updated: Dec 16, 2020
"Our Chief Executive David Healey" was recently Interviewed by Sky News about our Charitable almshouses.
The Chief Executive says "We have an aging population in the country as a whole, also a housing crisis particularly in Solihull, the older population is very high, and we know we are experiencing a greater level of financial hardship."
The Daily Telegraph also wrote this piece in their daily paper about the current need for Almshouses being built.
Charitable almshouses are now being built at their fastest rate in decades, with a thousand new homes being created in the last 10 years, so much so they are being seen as an effective way of helping to tackle the shortage of social housing.
The Almshouse Association says it has recorded the biggest spike in development of housing run by charities since the Victorian era, with more being built to offer accommodation for elderly people who struggle financially in their retirement.
The oldest almshouse still in existence is the Hospital of St Oswald, in Worcester, which was founded in 990. There are 30,000 other individual almshouse homes dotted around the country, often built around a communal courtyard or garden, providing homes for 36,000 people.
The Almshouse Association compares what is happening now to the mid 19th century, when there was a boom in the opening of charitable almshouses. Then, dire conditions for the poor in workhouses prompted some wealthy philanthropists to endow almshouses, often in their local area and built in groups of 6-12 dwellings, often for retirees of specific occupations such as fishermen, miners, agricultural workers or ex-servicemen. It is estimated that some 30 percent of current almshouses were founded during the Victorian period.
Nick Phillips, the association’s Chief Executive, said: "Over the last 10 years there have been about a thousand new almshouses built, that's a thousand new homes. Almshouse trustees have recognised the need for affordable housing. They are keen to support as many people as possible and have responded to growing demand."
