Live-in care support in return for free room and board?

I already added some thoughts up thread, but you'd also need to clear about boundaries when you are WFH. I generally work at the dining table so I have a view of the birds and garden.

If MIL visits, DH normally ushers her into another room. 1 time I was on an important conference call, unaware MIL was there. She crept up behind me then bent closer to me screen and commented about some for the people in the room. 'Look at him' etc. She refused to believe that they could see and hear her. She did a funny little dance and off she went! 😕

Either work in a room with a lock or have a signal when you can't be disturbed.

Three are agencies set up to facilitate exactly this. The sharer is expected to be out of the house in normal working/studying hours, but required to do 12-15 hours of help and/or company per week. A large part of the benefit for the home owner is having someone present overnight, as reassurance.

However the agencies charge both parties somewhere around £200/month for what on our case turned out to be minimal oversight.

It could work as an idea. I think you could advertise and see if there’s anyone who would be interested, but there’d be a limited market. Someone would have to really need someone around a lot, but not be poorly enough to need actual caring for. They’d have to not mind sharing their personal space. And I agree that most people are used to female carers so might expect that - but male carers would be better for others.

So I'm just thinking how this would work for my late 80s in-laws.
Wealthy enough to have a large place that they don't want to leave but is old fashioned in its ways.
Someone stupidly suggested your idea to them years ago, they've rather clung to it without actioning it.
You'd get the guest room with ensuite.
The double bed mattress is 25 years old and 'everyone says is very comfortable' it's grim.
There's no room for a desk, you'd get three drawers, a comedy small wardrobe, a dressing table and under the bed, a lifetimes worth of worn out linen.
This is all very precious and must n't change. Decorated very beautifully 30 years ago.
The WiFi is only available in the other part of the house. You could work in the study. When DH does this FIL has no idea, will be popping in to see if you are alright. Say meetings go on too long, tell you a good idea. All very jovially, but no one has ever managed a proper day's work.

Thing is your idea absolutely should work, my in-laws could have done it ten years ago when they were less needy but then they would have been horrified that people would think that they should need the help then. And they wouldn't have wanted to share the house.

It would work for a friend who always had lodgers for his entire life. He's used to sharing his kitchen and loves the flow of people.

I think this is a really good offer OP. I am l 70 and not ill but very achey, struggling with an over-large house , and if I was on my own I’d take you up on it, subject to references. I’d also want to know that you’d be able and willing to move out without fuss if the arrangement stopped working for me.

Yes and whilst working from home you should be working for the job that’s paying you not using the time to work another job.

This is exactly the kind of attitude that gives people who work from home a bad name.

I'm not sure it's legal, don't they have to pay at least minimum wage on top of accomodation?

A young person I know has accomodation with her hotel job, but they pay slightly above minimum wage and then deduct a rent charge, they couldn't consider her rent part of her pay.

I think you'd have more success as a lodger who could do odd jobs than offering care, which just think people need when they need it, not when you can fit it around your other work.

@MaurineWayBack I said it was relatively unusual and I explained why. Even people who (as you say) would benefit from the OP's help may be very resistant to a stranger living with them. My grandparents had mobility issues the last ten years of their lives and someone like the OP could have been helpful to them, but they fiercely resisted help from 'strangers'.

So I think it would be difficult for the OP to find the type of situation he's looking for, but not impossible.

I would love this setup for my father actually. He has a large home he won’t leave and doesn’t need physical care yet but it’s getting harder to get things sorted around the house and he lives alone so if something happened it would be a good while before anyone knew (I live overseas). It would drive him crazy to have someone around all day so this would be ideal for me. I think there’s a place for this arrangement but it will be hard to find as you’d need to get along well

I think you might struggle to find the right person to do this for as I reckon a lot of people who would want live in care would want you to be more available than you are in case of other emergencies. However, if you happened to find the right person, it could be ideal for both of you.

Under the UK government rules, 'free' accommodation is only allowable as a deduction of £10.66 per day from minimum wage, ie less than one hour of work for someone over 21.

So actually, they are NOT allowed to require more work than this in exchange for their board.

https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-accommodation

https://www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/au-pairs

Thats not enough for Free board

You are paid - your rent and food are covered. Yiu wouldn't work for free.

Our local council offer a scheme like this. Basically free rent in exchange for some companionship and light care. Aimed at any age, but attractive to university students a lot of the time. Might be worth asking your local council about it?

Speaking as someone who has a lot of mobility issues, enough that I’m struggling to cook fir myself, let alone clean, I can promise you that not everyone who would be looking for a ‘live in carer’ are the way you describe.
Im still independent. I still deal with my meds and doctors etc etc. I just can’t stay standing for very long.
Someone who would do that in exchange of board is easier and much cheaper than trying to organise a cleaner that will change bedsheets, someone cooking (near impossible - you end up having to go down the route of prep meals/meals on wheels etc….). Not even going into the little jobs that need doing in a house but d8nt vut in either of those categories.

Overall, people need to be extremely careful of stereotypes re inability to cook/clean house also meaning the person can’t do anything at all.

Take a look at workaway.info

Some au pair sites also cover elderly care as well as childcare

A quick google also found this site whixh looks to be what you're after https://twogenerations.co.uk/homesharer/

When my grandmother was in her late 80s & frail, the family were told that if she fell we shouldn’t lift her unless we were trained to do so - unless my aunt, a professional carer, was there the rule was to press her emergency alarm & ask for paramedics.

I think the OP & the homeowner / homeowner’s family would all need to be very clear on what he could & couldn’t / shouldn’t do.

Some older people are frightened being alone at night so knowing someone was there would help. Plus your other services. I think it would be useful: just to find the right match.
We hated my mom being on her own at night as we all had to go to work early and couldn't stay except at weekends. She could manage all day but was prone to falling so having someone at hand to help her up would have been brilliant. It only took a minute. We would probably have liked a woman but l am sure there are many men seeking company and light care too

But the person might have an emergency any time. They’d call 999, or not. Which is more likely to be successful if there’s been someone around sometimes to set up the Alexa/ charge the phone/ get them to Soecsavers for a hearing aid review.

What if there was an emergency when your at work?

It is relatively unusual for someone with 'light care' needs to want a companion living in. By the time people accept they need live-in care (which is effectively what you are offering, even if you don't call yourself a carer) they need a lot of help.

They are likely to either have dementia, or serious mobility problems, so would need someone around all the time, they would not be able to cope when you're out at the office. And even when you are WFH, you would not be 'available' because you're working at your paid job. Someone with dementia for instance might set off the smoke alarm or wander off in the rain, while you're in a meeting. Their needs won't wait for you to finish work.

I'm speaking as someone whose mother had dementia. She had companion care for several hours a day when she could still cope with being on her own part of the day. When she needed supervision 24/7 it really was exactly that - 24/7. So she moved to a care home.

-Being a male would certainly be an advantage for some clients.
-I'd ONLY go via an agency. If there were any issues, the persons health declined and needed more support etc then the agency could step in
-If you are driving them around I assumed you'd need business travel insurance on your car

I dunno, seems like a fair amount in return for no pay...Certainly, when you consider how much a full-time carer costs
Firstly- its not NO PAY! YOU are getting free room and board!
You are NOT a full time carer. At most I'd call you a companion.

I'd suggest speaking to a few agencies and check the requirements, demand etc in the area. As someone else said, you'd likely need to advise your current job that you are also being paid to do another. I know at my company I'd have to disclose this.

Depends on the level of care required by the person. It could definitely work for the right match.

My grandfather has a lodger along these lines but the lodger pays enough to cover his share of the bills...

As others have said - there is a definite market for this and agencies that specialise in this but not at the price point you are offering.