What kind of help can be exchanged for a room?
The help in question is the ordinary support people give each other when sharing a home: picking up shopping, sorting out a phone or an online form, putting the bins out, watering plants, or simply sitting down to a meal together a few times a week.
In France, the housing code states that such small services sit alongside the homesharing agreement without turning it into an employment contract. The UK model counts the help more explicitly, but follows the same principle: companionship and practical support, never a job.
Where help ends and work begins
The decisive test in French law is subordination: the power to give instructions, check how they are carried out and penalise failures. UK employment law looks at similar factors, such as control and mutual obligation. Once a householder behaves like a boss, the arrangement is at risk.
Warning signs of disguised employment
None of these signs settles the question on its own, but taken together they describe an employer-employee relationship rather than a homeshare. Coordinators, families and homesharers should all treat them as a prompt to step back and review.
- Fixed task schedules that are checked like a shift rota.
- Full housekeeping, deep cleaning or doing all the laundry.
- Personal care, lifting, or preparing medication.
- Regular all-day childcare for grandchildren.
- Threats to the room, or deductions, when a task is not done.
- A steadily growing list of duties with no review.
Why the room can be treated as pay
When accommodation is provided in return for work, it can be treated as a benefit in kind. In France that brings social contributions into play; in the UK, accommodation provided by an employer also interacts with minimum wage rules. Either way, the room stops being a gift.
What a householder risks in France
Article L8221-5 of the French Labour Code defines undeclared work by concealment of employment, notably failing to declare a hire or issue payslips. For an individual, the criminal penalty can reach three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.
On top of that come back-payments of social contributions and, for the young person, the possibility of claiming wages and a lump-sum indemnity before an employment tribunal. Such cases are rare, but they weigh heavily on a well-meaning retiree who was poorly advised.
| Question | Homesharing help | Disguised job |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides the tasks? | Agreed freely, adjusted together | Householder gives and checks orders |
| How much? | A few hours or small favours | Regular hours on a fixed schedule |
| What kind? | Errands, company, small fixes | Cleaning, personal care, childcare |
| If a task is missed? | Conversation, mediation | Penalty or threat to the room |
| Paperwork | Homeshare agreement and charter | None, or a misused agreement |
How UK schemes keep the line clear
Homeshare UK schemes typically describe roughly ten hours of help a week and explicitly exclude personal care. Matches are supervised by the scheme, which reviews the arrangement regularly, so the help stays within what an ordinary housemate might reasonably offer.
Healthcare students and care workers
A nursing student or trainee care assistant may be tempted to use professional skills at home. Those tasks must stay outside the homeshare. In an emergency the right reflex is to call for help, not to provide clinical care.
Combining a homeshare with declared work
It is legally possible for the householder to employ the young person for a few declared hours of cleaning, in France through the universal service employment cheque. The two relationships must stay separate, with distinct hours and real pay that is never offset against the room.
Who suits a help-for-housing exchange?
Older people who need company and occasional help, but whose heavier needs are already met by home care, a nurse or family. The homeshare adds to those services; it never replaces them.
On the other side, it suits helpful young people at ease with older adults and able to say no when a request goes beyond the agreement. Good coordinators test that ability at interview, because it is what keeps the relationship healthy.
Writing the list of services
A clear list attached to the agreement protects both people. It is best built with the coordinator, starting from the householder's real needs rather than a generic template, then reread at intervals to check it has not drifted.
- List with the householder the small daily needs they would like help with.
- Strike out anything involving personal care, full cleaning or childcare.
- Word each item flexibly, without set hours.
- Have the organisation approve the list and attach it to the agreement.
- Schedule a review after about three months.
Describe tasks without timing them
Wording such as weekly shopping every Saturday from ten to twelve reads like a work rota. Writing help with shopping now and then expresses the same intention while signalling that no one is clocking in.
When the householder's health changes
A hospital stay or loss of independence often shifts expectations. Rather than adding tasks to the homesharer, family and coordinator should arrange professional care. The agreement can be adapted, paused or ended, but never quietly turned into informal work.
Frequently asked questions
These questions come up often in interviews, from householders anxious to get it right and from young people worried about being taken advantage of. The answers are general pointers to confirm with the organisation overseeing the match.
Is cooking for two an acceptable service?
Cooking a shared meal from time to time is part of living together. Preparing every meal daily at set times to the householder's instructions resembles domestic employment. Imposed regularity is what tips the balance.
Can the homesharer say no?
Yes, and that freedom is itself a sign the relationship is not employment. A polite, explained refusal should have no consequence for the room. If refusals trigger threats or repeated reproach, the organisation needs to know.
Does a homeshare need to be declared as employment?
No. A homeshare that follows its agreement, without subordination, is not a job. Only genuinely paid work added in parallel needs to be declared through the normal channels of the country concerned.
What if the arrangement has already slipped?
Talk to the coordinator without delay. They can bring both sides together, refocus the list of services or organise an orderly end to the agreement. A young person who feels isolated can also seek free legal advice locally.
Useful organisations and resources
- Homeshare UK – What is Homeshare? — UK network explaining how homesharers offer help and companionship in exchange for accommodation, under scheme supervision.
- Age UK Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent – homeshare FAQ — Local Age UK scheme answering householders' questions about what help a homesharer can and cannot give.
- Housing Care – Homeshare UK listing — Information service for older people describing Homeshare UK and pointing families towards local schemes.
- Cohabilis – solidarity formula charter — Charter of the French homesharing network (in French) stressing the non-professional nature of help between generations.
Official and legal references
- French Labour Code – article L8221-5 — Official text (in French) defining undeclared work through concealed employment, such as failing to declare a hire.
- City of York Council – Homeshare York — Council page explaining how its homeshare service exchanges accommodation for help and excludes personal care.
- ANIL – intergenerational homesharing agreement — French housing information agency (in French) on the agreement and the small services it may include.