A trio of Jewish marketeers and tech entrepreneurs is leading a revolution in a corner of the housing market and may also have found the magic bullet for easing – if only slightly – the housing crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, the childcare crisis and a number of other crises brutally draining cash in today’s Britain.
Hapipod was originally designed to connect seniors and young adults via a genius platform that would help overcome some of the minor practical challenges faced by older people living alone, while easing the housing crisis faced by the UK’s young adults, with 40 percent of under-30s unable to afford to leave home.
I wrote about hapipod in its original incarnation a couple of years ago, noting that as Boomers hurtle towards old-age, even if we were open to the idea of life in a care home – which most of us are not – our greater longevity probably makes long-term care unaffordable. According to those I spoke to, most of us were seeking ways to retain agency and remain independent – at least before frailty or chronic illness deprived us of that option.
I mentioned a number of ‘solutions’ that would defer or remove entirely the need for care, including self-contained apartments in a ‘supported’ environment – an option available from several Jewish communal organisations as well as commercially – that ranged from a warden and a communal lounge, to super-ritzy ‘seniors’ developments. I also mentioned co-housing communities – popular in Scandi countries and taking off now in the UK and Israel. But by far the most imaginative and innovative solution in 2022 for deferring the dreaded loss of agency and loss of independence was hapipod.
Since then, hapipod has evolved in a way its original founder, Sunderland-born, north London-based marketeer and documentary filmmaker Andrea Frankenthal, could not have dreamed when she came up with the idea during lockdown.
The director-producer of Forced Out, a documentary exposing antisemitism in Corbyn’s Labour party, was chatting to a friend about the friend’s elderly father who needed a little practical help at home; help that the friend – at full stretch with kids and career – didn’t have time or geographical proximity to provide.
After discovering that there were some 3.6 million people aged over 65 with spare rooms, and some 3.4 million people aged 20 to 34 who could not afford to leave home, Andrea had the idea of matching “active, independent householders” who had a spare room with young adults who would “help out with tech, pet-sitting or a spot of gardening” in exchange for paying below the market rate for accommodation.
After passing an ID-check (with members advised to carry out their own checks for which hapipod provides detailed guidance) and paying a small, limited-duration membership fee, members made their own selections and could contact possible matches directly.
Andrea Frankenthal and Nicole Tinero
As Andrea told me in 2022, “Everyone benefits.” And as the first space where seniors could find a paying lodger who would also help out, it was an instant success.
It quickly became apparent that as a result of the crises mentioned in my opening paragraph, the hapipod concept was evolving. Andrea saw that older people were signing up to get affordable accommodation for themselves – possibly after divorce – while younger householders were signing up to get a small income from a spare room as well as a little help with childcare, baby-sitting or tutoring.
Finding herself matching hosts and renters on sheets of paper at her kitchen table, Andrea realised she had to redevelop the website. And she needed a bigger team. A chance meeting at the gym brought old friend Nicole Tinero on board. A member of West London Synagogue from childhood and long-time supporter of Jewish charities (she did two bike rides in Israel for Norwood-Ravenswood), Nicole had 30 years’ experience in PR and marketing and an immediate understanding of the possibilities for hapipod. As well as rebranding to reflect the changing demographic, Andrea says that she and Nicole spent “an eventful year” searching for tech expertise.
David Cummin
They found it in Jewish tech entrepreneur David Cummin, who had successfully taken four start-ups to sale and was able to lead the development of the “new all-singing, all-dancing site,” which was launched earlier this year.
As well as a shift in its age demographic, hapipod is expanding around the UK. Having focused initially on London and the South Coast, it is now rolling out nationwide to match people in areas such as Leeds, Nottingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Andrea’s old home turf in the North-East.
“By enabling the right people to find each other,” explains Andrea, “we have the potential to help combat the cost-of-living, rental and loneliness crises. Many householders would be happy to provide a spare room at an affordable rate to a compatible lodger who could offer a little help. And it’s this mutual opportunity that we want to nurture.
“Obviously, we are a business, but we also believe passionately that in this tough economic climate, hapipod has the potential to drive a lifestyle revolution based on shared space and mutual support that will enhance wellbeing – and not just for older people with a spare room as I originally envisaged, but for younger families feeling the economic pinch, as well as mature people who need affordable accommodation.
“We believe it will help independent people of all ages live their best home lives.”
