With the nation in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and the cost of care skyrocketing for UK families, legendary broadcaster Tony Blackburn believes that the future of caring for our older generation lies with multi-generational living.
Tony was recently appointed as iHus’s first ever celebrity ambassador, having previously purchased his very own iHus annexe to deliver the benefits of multi-generational living to his own family.
A recent report from the care home and retirement community expert, Lottie, revealed that the average weekly cost for a UK residential care home has reached more than £700, with an average monthly cost of £2,816.
And Tony believes that the concept of multi-generational living, spearheaded by iHus, offers an urgently-needed solution for caring for our older population.
He said: “I truly believe that this is the future.
“Everyone is living so much longer now, and I don’t think people have realised the strain that will put on us a society to ensure that older people are looked after.
“Being an older person myself, I’m looking to the future too, and in a society where everything is geared towards younger people, I don’t think enough thought is given to that.
“Culturally, the UK perhaps isn’t among the best when it comes to looking after older people, and I think that iHus offers a great solution and opportunity for the UK to address this.”
Discussing the broader concept, Tony believes there are several clear advantages compared to traditional care home provision, beyond just cost, against a backdrop of growing interest in multi-generational living.
“I see the current trend in the UK towards multi-generational living as a hugely positive thing.
“There may be worries that some families have about care homes, and you may hear the odd horror story from time to time.
“But if you can have carers coming in when you need them, alongside family members themselves going in to make sure of things, then that’s a fantastic balance.
“In a care home, purely due to the logistics and distance, you’re not quite sure that everything’s alright, but this way is perfect.”
Commenting on his own journey, Tony added: “Multi-generational living has become very important to me.
“My wife’s mother is 99 and we didn’t want to put her in a care home, and she probably wouldn’t have gone into a care home.
“She wanted to be closer to us, so she sold her house and was able to move into the iHus annexe.
“We have carers coming into the annexe now, and I know from their point of view that everything within the annexe is very easy to access and operate.
“That’s a huge plus, as well as the fact that the annexe itself and everything in it is extremely safe.
“There have been one or two times as well where we’ve wanted to make sure of things, but the team at iHus has been very helpful.
“I’ve also been amazed at how quickly everything went up. I think it was six to eight weeks from start to finish, which was amazing.
“It’s really great quality, too, and several years on it still looks great, and we’ve had nothing done to it.”
Start your own multi-generational journey today. Click here
