Just before Christmas, Care and Repair England hosted a discussion on the importance of housing in the debate about care and support for an ageing population.
Without a doubt, the largest proportion of household wealth in the UK is held in property, with households headed by 55-64 year olds having the highest average net property wealth, with a median of £200,000. On average, older households hold slightly more wealth in property than those with a household head under the age of 55.
Our recent work for Age UK on the older consumer (1) highlighted that whilst our actual spend on housing declines with age, the proportion of income spent on housing and fuel among the over 50s increase with age. Those aged 75 and over spend 16 per cent on housing and fuel; up from 11 per cent among 65 to 74 year olds. Of course these trends aren’t universal. Those paying rent rather than owning a mortgage will have found that their rental costs have not decreased with age to the same extent as mortgage costs.
But while the cost of paying rent or mortgage is the most obvious housing-related expense, there are other expenses that older households often need to meet. Evidence from a European study suggests that a significant minority of adults who have retired feel it necessary to adapt their house or move home to accommodate their changing needs, so while 14 per cent of European retirees had adapted their home to help with reduced mobility, seven per cent had moved since they retired (The Gallup Organization, 2008). However, these numbers are considerably smaller than the numbers of younger respondents who anticipated taking such decisions upon retirement (60 per cent and 41 per cent respectively).
The survey results may indicate a lack of options for those retirees who anticipated making such changes, or a misperception of their likely needs in retirement. In the UK, the proportion of younger people anticipating the need to adapt their house was 79 per cent, lower only than that of Sweden and Finland, while 66 per cent of non-retired UK respondents felt that they would consider moving after retirement – only the Swedes were more likely to believe they would consider this option (69 per cent). Yet only 18 per cent had adapted their home, and just nine per cent of UK retirees had actually moved; higher than the European average, but considerably less than might be expected given the views of younger respondents.
Data from ELSA give us far more detail about the adaptations present in older people’s homes. The majority of homes have not been adapted, but of those that have, handrails and bathroom modifications are most common. The proportion of properties with various adaptations increases with the age of the respondent, suggesting that the demand for such facilities typically increases with age, as might be expected. In particular, it is noteworthy that the proportion of people with alerting devices, lifts, chairlifts, ramps and widened access approximately doubles over the age of 85, compared with the 80 to 84 year old age group.
Far too often the cost of housing is seen in terms of just the actual cost of the rent or mortgage. But what our research has helped to reveal is the unmet need of the older consumer. We say that we are likely to need our houses adapted but then don’t do it.
Organisations like Care and Repair England do a fantastic job, working to improve the housing and living conditions of older and disabled people. In the context of the debate about paying for care,we cannot risk ignoring the housing related costs facing older people with care needs.
The Government seems to be moving away from the idea of standards for accessible housing and communities. This could prove to have large and costly implications if the long-term impact is higher care costs.
There is also of course a role for the private sector in terms of meeting the needs of the older consumer. We seem to accept that we will need to make adaptations and then don’t actually do it. Private sector suppliers need to promote the universal benefits of accessible benefits of adaptations to all ages. And consumers themselves need to be inspired to actually plan for home adaptations before it is too late to benefit them.
David Sinclair, ILC-UK and David Hayes (PRFC, Bristol University)
(Also published on www.ilcuk.org.uk)
(1) The Golden Economy - The Consumer Marketplace in an Ageing Society is available at: http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/record.jsp?type=publication&ID=80
Consumption Patterns among Older Consumers is available at: http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/record.jsp?type=publication&ID=81
No comments:
Post a Comment