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A few years ago, I interviewed a 70-something widow who had sold her house and moved in with two women of a similar age. After agreeing how to split the bills, and whose artwork to hang in the sitting room, she said it was liberating. These older ladies are enjoying the kind of house-share that many millennials are now desperate to escape.
Downsizing offers part of the solution to what is now a full-blown housing crisis in Britain. Soaring mortgage rates are frightening, especially for the 1.4mn homeowners whose fixed-rate deals are due to end this year. Tenants are being squeezed as landlords pass on the costs. Generation Rent is losing hope as successive governments struggle to build. Yet if we were to persuade some of the over-65s — who are disproportionately likely to own their own homes — to sell their large houses, then young families have a better chance of moving up.
Shuffling the pack of housing stock has a bigger impact than building new, because new builds barely make a dent on the total. The current situation is inefficient, with roughly a third of homes in England said to be under-occupied with two or more bedrooms not in regular use. Most are owned by pensioners, around a quarter of whom tell pollsters that they would like to downsize. The numbers are significant: one survey found 1.4mn people over 65 saying they would like to move to a smaller house in the next five years.
“Under-occupancy” is an emotive term. One person’s wasted space may be another’s study, or a bedroom being kept for graduate kids boomeranging home with student debt. With older people already accused of “bed blocking” hospitals because of failings in social care, we don’t want a war about the old “hoarding” bedrooms. But we should be doing much more to help those who do want to move. About 60 per cent of the UK’s housing stock has three or more bedrooms, while the number of single households is rising. Experts say that almost as many bedrooms are being decommissioned through children moving out as are being replenished by new build homes.
The attractions of downsizing — or perhaps we should call it right-sizing — are obvious. Big houses are often draughty and expensive to heat, with gardens that take a toll on creaky knees. Selling can release equity for children or travel. Flats have fewer stairs, and sometimes better amenities. Retirement communities, as they are called, offer an easier life and the chance to meet new people.
I’ve met a lot of happy downsizers in the course of researching a book on ageing. One man was enjoying taking his turn in the retirement village shop, knowing his ailing wife was being looked after. Another couple, who sold their “forever” home to a young family and moved to a cottage in the same village, now pops back to babysit the child growing up in their old house.
That’s not to say it’s psychologically easy. It is emotional to leave the homestead and clear out the loft. How do you start throwing away the kids’ school reports, old photos, a lifetime’s paraphernalia? The boom in private decluttering services shows that people can’t do it alone. Some local authorities offer support with the logistics of moving. But it can still be hard to feel that downsizing is not downgrading.
Another barrier is money, and the complexity of the transaction. For most of us lucky enough to own a home, it is our biggest asset, a store of wealth for our children, which makes selling especially fraught. I’ve heard stories of couples changing their minds about selling after being disappointed in valuations, which reflect the decor and plumbing they haven’t updated for 30 years. I’ve also talked to people who won’t move because they resent paying stamp duty on the new purchase. There is a case for putting “last-time” buyers on an equal footing with first time buyers when it comes to stamp duty — giving them a break on purchases up to £425,000. While the Treasury is understandably reluctant to give another bung to the elderly, it could be worth it to liberate larger homes.
Then there’s the challenge of finding somewhere to move to. Developers often build one-bed flats, but grandparents usually want two, for a visiting friend or grandchild. Both council tenants and homeowners can get stuck in the wrong size accommodation. Some creative solutions are emerging: Redbridge Council in London offers both social housing tenants and homeowners opportunities to downsize through mutual swaps.
There is now a whole spectrum of older people’s housing, from sheltered accommodation to luxury retirement villages. Not everyone can afford to live in one of those, nor does everyone want to. But the choice is very limited: only 2.5 per cent of the UK’s 29mn dwellings are defined as retirement housing. A study in 2011 found that only 1 per cent of Britons aged over 60 had moved into retirement housing, compared to 17 per cent in the US and 13 per cent in Australia and New Zealand. The sector says this is partly because the UK has no specific planning use class for housing with care, unlike some other countries.
Leasing a flat can be a daunting prospect after years of owning a freehold, but it can also be a new lease on life. Vigilance is needed: there have been horror stories about retirement villages hiding fees in complex leases. On the upside, there is evidence that some types of “extra care” community housing improve health and reduce the burden on the NHS because neighbours look out for each other and fend off isolation.
Downsizing could be a win-win for all generations — and when it comes to housing, that’s not something we often hear.
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