星空传媒

For elderly people, finding someone to do odd jobs around the home isn鈥檛 just a question of cost or convenience 鈥� it鈥檚 also about trust. 鈥淓lderly tenants want to use a trustworthy person who has links to a reputable organisation,鈥� says Jo Savage, housing director of Howard Cottage Society.

So the north Hertfordshire-based association joined a local scheme where tenants who are over 60, or disabled, can call a dedicated worker to help with tasks the landlord is not obliged to carry out. These might include installing an electrical socket, laying kitchen flooring, putting up curtain poles, changing washers on taps or putting up a fence.

To set up a similar scheme, first make sure there鈥檚 a demand. Almost four-fifths of Howard Cottage鈥檚 tenants are elderly or disabled and they were very much in favour of the landlord joining a repairs service 鈥� in this case set up by local home improvement agency Anchor Staying Put and aimed at elderly owner-occupiers.

鈥淓specially our older tenants said they鈥檇 like somebody to do odd jobs for a small fee,鈥� says Savage.

Joining an existing scheme is a good idea, she adds, because the experts are already in place and the paperwork can be dealt with centrally. Check with home improvement agencies 鈥� not-for-profit bodies that help vulnerable people stay in their homes 鈥� to see if they run anything similar in your area.

When recruiting your labourer, the right personality is more important than a string of qualifications. Roger Fisher, who coordinates Anchor Staying Put鈥檚 schemes in three areas of Hertfordshire, says: 鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 be doing jobs that a qualified gas technician or electrician would do, so we weren鈥檛 looking for technical qualifications. We wanted somebody who could demonstrate some experience, not just say, 鈥業鈥檝e done these DIY jobs in my own home鈥�.鈥�

Jim Bowskill, north Hertfordshire鈥檚 handyman, had worked as a builder and plumber. Fisher says he was also chosen because he was friendly and seemed likely to get on well with tenants.

For tenants鈥� peace of mind, you should get police checks done on the worker

For tenants鈥� peace of mind, you should get police checks done on prospective repair workers by the Criminal Records Bureau. This costs about 拢75 and takes a month.

Decide how you will fund the scheme: the north Hertfordshire service costs about 拢28,500 a year to run, which covers: a salary of about 拢18,000; equipment; protective clothing; a contribution towards the call centre at Anchor Staying Put; insurance and the rental of a van. This was funded by contributions from the different partners, including north Hertfordshire council adult care services, Howard Cottage and the local primary care trust, plus a 拢12,000 grant from Supporting People.

Keep any charge at a reasonable level for pensioners: the north Hertfordshire scheme asks them to pay for any materials and requests a donation of 拢10 an hour. As this is voluntary, there is no need to charge VAT on it. The payment contributes just a fraction of the running costs but Savage says people are happy to pay it 鈥� and sometimes more. Any surplus is put into a pot to help those unable to afford it.

As well as DIY, Bowskill will also put up flat-pack furniture, help to remove bulky rubbish or put up sheds. But you have to make a judgment on how essential these tasks are. 鈥淧eople pay for materials, so this is more about how long jobs would take rather than the cost of materials,鈥� Savage says. As a rough measure, most jobs take no more than about half a day, she adds.

Savage says opening the scheme up to all elderly tenants has been worthwhile: 鈥淪ome schemes say you can鈥檛 take part if your relatives live nearby, regardless of whether they have eight children at home and a full-time job. Those schemes are more hassle to administrate, because it鈥檚 hard to check where people鈥檚 families are. And they鈥檙e unequal 鈥� why should somebody not have access to a service just because they鈥檝e got relatives nearby?鈥�