Britain’s housing shortage could be alleviated by the sale of properties owned by a significant number of older people.
Nearly one-third of homeowners over the age of 55 – which is 3.3 million people - said they have considered downsizing to smaller properties in the last five years.
But only 7% have actually done so, according to research by Legal & General and the Centre for Economic and Business Research.
It seems that just 2% of Britain’s housing stock is geared specifically for retirees.
The study calculates that if these 3.3 million people could find suitable properties for downsizing, it would release 18% of Britain’s property market.
The research asked what they needed - 32% wanted to be close to family and friends, 18% wanted to be near their current neighbourhood, 16% sought easy access to healthcare and just 10% wanted to be near shops.
Official figures show that 8.1 million properties (35% of all houses in the UK) are deemed “under-occupied”, which is defined as having at least two spare bedrooms.
The growth in population size coupled with the changing nature of households means that some 210,000 new homes have to be built every year until 2037 to meet demand.
Last year, work began on 140,500 homes, an increase of 5% over 2013.
The Queen’s Speech named several policies to promote housebuilding, such as a register of brownfield sites so developers can more easily find places.
The UK’s new housing minister, Brandon Lewis, said recently that "housebuilding is at the heart of our plan to ensure the recovery reaches all parts of our country".
