Is downsizing the key to tackling the housing crisis?

Elderly people should be encouraged to downsize in order to free up surplus bedrooms and help solve the housing shortage in this country, according to a new report.

The report by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) shows that nearly 60% of surplus bedrooms lie in households inhabited by over-65s.

According to the report, the overall bedroom surplus is projected to exceed 20 million in 2040, with nearly 13 million people above the age of 65 living in largely unsuitable households.

The report argues that elderly people should be encouraged to downsize, but the lack of age-friendly housing in the UK limits the options for millions who are open to moving but decide to stay.

The shrinking size of households is linked to the ageing of the UK population, with growth in older households set to account for 36 per cent of the projected 3.7 million increase in the number of UK households by 2040.

The report calls for a joined-up approach between Whitehall departments dealing with housing and health for older people should be established as a key part of the housing mix.

It also recommends that the NHS should acknowledge benefits of retirement communities to the elderly – such health, wellbeing and more manageable social care costs – which are largely ignored in its long-term strategy and in planning services for older people.

The report highlights several barriers to downsizing, including a dearth of suitable alternatives. Only 2.5 per cent of the UK’s 29 million dwellings are defined as retirement housing, and the stock is heavily skewed towards houses with three or more bedrooms.

‘If more family homes were freed up by downsizing, the benefits would cascade down the housing ladder because it would enable families to ‘upsize’, allowing more first-time buyers on to the bottom rung,’ said report author and Professor of Statistics at Cass Business School, Professor Les Mayhew.

‘More efficient use of the existing stock would reduce pressure to ‘just build more’ as a solution to the UK’s housing shortage.

‘The demand is out there as baby boomers seek to redeploy housing equity into smaller, more convenient homes with independent living and easy access to services. This would also reduce pressure on local authority spending through transfer to care homes and allow more efficient delivery of social care to individuals.’

The full report – Too Little? Too Late? – is available to read here.

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