How can our universities discriminate fairly?

Like most of the squeezed middle, I toy with the idea of renting out a room once my fledglings have flown the nest. I’m a seasoned Airbnb veteran; Warsaw, Madrid, Paris, Leipzig. Such different cities, such similar apartments whose aesthetic can best be described as “soulless Ikea”.

Here’s my dilemma: would I rather let my room to anonymous tourists, or to a bedridden grandmother newly discharged from hospital who needs three meals a day and a side order of human kindness? Hmm. Let me think. Sorry, I choose Johnny Foreigner any day. Apart from Christmas (I don’t need baffled Japanese people questioning our ancient family rituals).

But news that the NHS could tackle bed-blocking with a scheme similar to Airbnb is not nearly as ridiculous as it seems. Elderly people too frail to go home but not poorly enough to stay in hospital would be sent to stay in private homes, where they would be looked after for a fee of about £50 a night. Thus wards are freed up for fresh admissions and the patient is kept warm and fed, and might actually be able to get some shuteye without the constant clanging and banging.

Now, as a working mother with two children, two dogs, a husband, a panther chameleon and a crested gecko to keep alive, I would struggle to care for a blood relative never mind a stranger. But I know quite a few older, community-minded women who would absolutely love to be useful and to have company – boosting their pension would merely be a bonus.

Who among us doesn’t know of a limber 75- or 80-year-old who enjoys bustling about at the local day centre making tea or lunch or just affectionately bossing “the old folk”?

Loneliness is the paradoxical scourge of our hyper-connected modern society. Bringing together people who, for whatever reason, have a gap in their lives, would surely be a win-win scenario. Unlike Airbnb, the personal, emotional component would be more important than the furniture.

Of course the homeowners would need to be carefully vetted – and the patients too – but I believe there is real merit in the idea of Air TLC. I look forward to learning more.