Moving On - Our Latest Research Report

People aged 65+ are more likely to be living in a home that’s too big for their needs than any other age group.

Our latest white paper ‘Moving On – could later living be the answer to the housing crisis?’ is a data-rich report highlighting the need for government to invest proactively in the later living sector using policy levers, planning reform and funding incentives to help market it properly and create demand.

Report Overview

Working with more than 10 registered providers, we crunched more than 200,000 pieces of data, surveyed more than 1,000 people and interviewed 20 residents of retirement living to prove the scale of the issue and gain a better insight into the public perception of later living and rightsizing.

Our research showed that people aged 65+ were most likely to be living in homes with more bedrooms than they need, yet the majority of over 50s have no plan to, or don’t know if they will, rightsize one day.

For many, the reluctance to rightsize is down to a belief that it is unaffordable, reserved for the point of health crisis, or simply a ‘problem for when I’m older’, and our data shows that this view cements as we age.

Substandard housing costs the NHS an estimated £1.4 billion every year and if people lived in homes more suited to their needs, it is estimated that 50,000 fewer homes would need to be built each year. However, just 7,000 retirement units are being built per year – falling short of the numbers required for an ageing population.

Research estimates that for each bedroom added to the retirement stock, two to three are released in mainstream housing, so shifting the focus from first-time buyers to last-time buyers to ‘pull’ people through the market will increase the number of family and starter homes available.

With proven benefits to the housing sector and NHS cost-savings, the paper calls for government to invest proactively in the later living sector using policy levers, planning reform and funding incentives to help market it properly and create demand.

Download the paper for the full facts, stats and insight.