Almshouse

An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held certain jobs, or their widows, and for elderly people who could no longer pay rent. They are generally maintained by a charity or the trustees of a bequest. "Alms" are, in the Christian tradition, money or services donated to support the poor and indigent. Almshouses were originally formed as extensions of the church system and were later adapted by local officials and authorities.

Many almshouses are European Christian institutions though some are secular. Almshouses provide subsidised accommodation, often integrated with social care resources such as wardens.

Almshouses were established from the 10th century in Britain, to provide a place of residence for poor, old, and distressed people. They were sometimes called bede-houses, and the residents were bedesmen or bedeswomen. Bede is the Anglo-Saxon word for prayer, and the almsmen and women were obliged to pray for the founder of the charity. The first recorded almshouse was founded in York by King Athelstan; the oldest still in existence is the Hospital of St. Cross in Winchester, dating to about 1132. In the Middle Ages, the majority of European hospitals functioned as almshouses. Many of the medieval almshouses in England were established with the aim of benefiting the soul of the founder or their family, and they usually incorporated a chapel. As a result, most were regarded as chantries and were dissolved during the Reformation under the Abolition of Chantries Acts of 1545 and 1547.

The legal basis for civil almshouses and workhouses in England was the Act for the Relief of the Poor. These institutions underwent various changes, but by 1900, the elderly made up 85 percent of the residents of these institutions.

Almshouses generally have charitable status and aim to support the continued independence of their residents. There is an important delineation between almshouses and other forms of sheltered housing in that almshouse residents generally have no security of tenure, being solely dependent upon the goodwill of the administering trustees.

Some 2,600 almshouses continue to be operated in the UK, providing 30,000 dwellings for 36,000 people.

Almshouses were first founded in Holland in the Middle Ages. Usually founded by rich citizens or guilds, these almshouses "constituted a well-organized system of relief".

A number of hofjes are still functioning as accommodation for elderly people. Most residents are women.