Millions older people in the UK are stuck in unsuitable homes because there’s a shortage of alternatives that better meet their needs, new research suggests.
According to the study, commissioned by the Centre for Better Ageing (CBA), more than four million people aged 55 and above are actively seeking to move properties, but cannot find new homes with the right location, tenure and affordability.
The report was delivered in partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and the Manchester School of Architecture, which is itself a collaboration between the city’s two universities.
It builds on previous research commissioned by CBA and GMCA, which revealed that very few older people – 3.4% – move each year despite many living in inadequate and inappropriate housing.
The previous study also found that the majority of older people who do move do not ‘downsize’, and those that do only do so by moving to properties with one fewer bedroom.
One of the aims of this latest report is to challenge the “flawed orthodoxy” that incentives to downsize and retirement villages are the only housing solutions for older people.
Instead, the report authors recommend the ‘right place’ approach, which allows older people to select the neighbourhood and housing which meets their ambitions and needs, and improve their quality of life, as they grow older.
However, this is reliant on the availability of the right homes in the right locations amongst a supportive community and neighbourhood, as well as being financially in reach for older people.
Dr Carole Easton OBE, the CBA’s chief executive, said: “It is abundantly clear that very few older people are currently able to find and access the right properties that could improve their quality of life.
“The solution to the problem is not incentivising or pressurising older people into downsizing. Instead, we need planning and housing to focus more on older people’s needs and deliver the right properties in the right locations and at the right price to give older people greater options than are available now to where and how they live.
“What our study found is that home, the perception of the package of social relationships, services, facilities and accommodation, rather than just the feelings about the quality and shortcoming of their house, provides the clearest indicator of older people’s preference to stay or move from where they live.”
The new research outlines five identities of older people and their distinct requirements from a house move and the barriers they face.
Researchers found these identities were bound by their experience of where they live, and not defined by age, socioeconomic class or tenure as is often the assumption.
The study found each identity requires different policy interventions and support programmes to find the right home for them.
By bringing together policy analysis of large data with local insights from planning data, and direct engagement with residents, planning authorities can create more tailored housing policy to help improve local housing choices for older people and enable people to find the ‘right place’ to grow older.
Currently, at least two million people over the age of 55 live in homes that fail the minimum Decent Homes Standard while less than one in 10 homes in the UK meet even minimum accessibility standards.
Easton added: “The challenge for policy makers and planners is how to identify the specific barriers and opportunities that particular people face when attempting to right size as they grow older.
“Planning interventions and housing strategies need to be built upon a better understanding of these needs and wants, gained through direct engagement and coupled with localised data, if we are to end this house moving bottleneck currently experienced by older people.”
Home improvements make for safer lives
Meanwhile, in separate research commissioned by the CBA, it is claimed that the government could create 100,000 new jobs, and gain an annual £10bn boost to the economy, if it spent “just” £625m a year to improve the safety, heating, and accessibility of homes.
This study, delivered for the CBA by the cross-party thinktank, Demos, supported by Dunhill Medical Trust, says there are 3.5m homes in England that pose a serious threat to their occupants’ health and safety.
This is because of the presence of trip hazards, lack of adequate facilities, and dangerous levels of cold and damp. Some 984,000 of these homes headed by someone 65 or over is classed as non-decent.
By the investment suggested by the report could bring 520,000 of these homes a year back to a safer standard – offering an economic boost in the process.
The CBA’s Easton said: “Homes which fail to keep people safe and warm are contributing to the deaths of thousands of people every year. Many homeowners cannot afford the relatively small costs needed to substantially improve them. The housing stock we have is woefully inadequate to meet people’s needs now, this is only going to get worse as our population ages.
“Low growth and high public debt mean we cannot just throw money at the problem. Policy-makers must strategically focus on the solutions with the greatest bang for their buck. Investing in home improvement, a policy solution that has been overlooked for too long, has enormous potential to deliver a huge social, economic and environmental impact far in excess the moderate levels of investment needed.
“Stimulating a mass expansion of home improvement work nationwide would mean hundreds of thousands of people happier and healthier in homes that are safe and energy efficient. It would mean reducing the strain on health and social care services. It would mean stimulating economic growth by creating new jobs, skills, apprenticeships and investment opportunities while saving hard-pressed households money. It would deliver towards Net Zero obligations without financially penalising the individual or asking for significant lifestyle sacrifices. Few policy options open to government can offer so much for so little.”
Image credit: fizkes/Shutterstock
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