Homeshare is a simple but brilliant idea – it is the exchange of services : housing for help in the home. Homesharing enables two unrelated people to share a home and their lives for their mutual benefit. Companionship and mutual support are at the heart of homesharing – not financial gain. A homesharer provides support and companionship to a householder in exchange for free or low-cost accommodation.

Homeshare International is an educational charity, founded in London, UK, in 1999 and re-established as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2016.  Trustees are drawn from many different countries and are actively engaged in homeshare programmes and networks. Read more about who’s who.

Homeshare International supports a network of professionals worldwide who run homeshare programmes. Our aims are to encourage learning and good practice, foster new programmes and to understand the impact of homesharing. We also raise public awareness of what homesharing can offer as a solution to many of society’s needs.

We aim to:

• provide a link between all homeshare programmes around the world, enabling the agencies involved to share learning and information
• raise awareness of homesharing and its potential among professionals and policy makers in housing, social services and other relevant fields
• stimulate the setting up of new homeshare programmes
• support learning and encourage good practice in running programmes
• encourage research on the contribution that homesharing can make to the social needs it seeks to address.

Read about our progress in Homeshare International Review 2004-2013 and Homeshare International: Nurturing a Global Network 2014-2019

Find out more about homesharing.

Homesharing can cross generations and cultures.

The people shown in the photos on this page were matched by ensemble2générations in France.

Photos courtesy of Maëlenn www.maelenn.com