Older Owners: Housing outcomes and policy choices

Speakers at the event include:

James Lloyd, Director, Strategic Society Centre

Dame Clare Tickell, Chief Executive, Hanover Housing Association

Joe Oldman, Policy Advisor, Age UK

Angus Hanton, Co-Founder, Intergenerational Foundation

Anna Dixon, Chief Executive, Centre for Ageing Better (Chair)

Twitter: #olderowners

Public debate about older homeowners has risen up the agenda in recent years, with this group variously encouraged to:

• Make the most of housing design and adaptation to reduce their need for care;
• Fund retirement and their care costs using their home;
• Reduce levels of ‘under-occupancy’;
• Accept that universal spending on pensioners should be focused on those without housing wealth.

Despite increasing focus on older homeowners in debate, policymakers have lacked comprehensive data on the housing outcomes, aspirations, wealth and lives of this group across different UK regions.

This event sees the launch of new quantitative research addressing these topics from the Strategic Society Centre and Hanover Housing Association.

The launch event will present the findings of the research and explore how policymakers can make sense of the complex agenda around older homeowners:

• Moving plans - how many older homeowners actually want to move home?
• Financial situation - what percentage of older homeowners are struggling financially? How many have sufficient housing wealth to fund their retirement?
• Neighbourhoods – how much are older homeowners attached to their local areas and neighbours?
• Regional variations – to what extent are the housing outcomes and aspirations of older home different across the regions?