HMO Is Where The Heart Is...
People tend to forget the H in HMO may stand for house but it is also a home for thousands in the city – Harry is one of those people. Approaching retirement, he had worked hard and had a good life but was watching his outgoings as you do at that age, determined to cut his cloth accordingly. He found himself in Alwin's office discussing what was available in his price range and reluctantly agreed to take a room in an HMO until something better came up.
That was over 30 years ago. Harry is still there and sadly, is dying, but with the help of his housemates – he wants to die in his HMO home.
Mention an HMO and people immediately think youngsters / noisy students / young working professionals whereas in reality, there are very many older people for whom a large room in an HMO is all they need and they much prefer the community of a shared house to the solitude of living alone.
Harry, became one of those people, happily living in his Southampton HMO since that time when Alwin convinced him to give it a try back in the 1990's.
Of late, Harry has not been well, he is now in his late 80's and has been unable to fully care for himself – he has carers visit 4 times a day to help him with the necessities of life, but obviously he still finds it hard. One of his issues is managing personal hygiene, which was becoming a challenge, and required establishing rather more clinical conditions than would normally be expected in a domestic home and much more unusual in a HMO
But far from the expected reaction, Alwin was gently "summoned" to a house meeting by Alex, aka "the new girl" (she has only been there 12 years). The tenants upon being made aware Harrys condition was terminal rallied around.
Alwin spoke to the manager responsible for the carers and the net of the discussion was: Harry ought to be in a home, given current waiting lists he will not live long enough to get a place in one, Alwin ought to evict Harry in order to move him further up the list.
Contrary to popular belief, eviction is a last resort and not something anyone does unless they have no other option.
Sadly, Harry's situation had worsened and there was the option of moving him to a hospice, but his wish was to die in his home, among the people he had lived with and called his friends for a very long time.
What happened? The good news is the housemates have rallied round and are trying to ensure Harry gets his wish. There is never going to be a happy ending to a story like this, but if Harry and the people he lives with can make the best of it, then we should be happy for that.
Update: Since we originally published this article, at the beginning of August, sadly Harry has died. The good news is that he did so with dignity, in his own bed, surrounded by his fellow tenants, having asked Alex to be his next of kin and the other housemates he knew as friends. Alwin & Erica attended his funeral, which was also organised by his housemates, who provided a beautiful service.