Over-55s Consider Downsizing

Some 54% of over-55s are considering downsizing in the next two years, research from Audley Villages has found. A similar proportion (55%) say they decided to think about downsizing earlier so they can live in a home which is more suitable to their changing needs. Equally important (53%) is living in property which requires less maintenance than their current home, while location (34%) and moving closer to family and friends (29%) are other important factors. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/over-55s-consider-downsizing/ 

Cut Stamp Duty For Elderly Downsizers

Top housing and pension bosses have written to the Chancellor calling for a new Help to Downsize scheme to boost a property market recovery and put pensioners in safer, more suitable homes. In a letter addressed to Rishi Sunak, leaders from across the housing and retirement industries have pleaded for stamp duty to be waived for older homeowners who move to smaller, more suitable homes, thereby freeing up large family homes to those in dire need of more space.  Without drastic action to slash the tax bills faced by would-be downsizers, they warn, pensioners will remain stuck in homes that no longer meet their needs. Read more on the This Is Money website.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-8479463/Cut-stamp-duty-downsizers-property-bosses-urge.html

Stamp Duty Reform Is Needed To Solve The Housing Crisis

Reducing stamp duty is the key to unlocking the housing crisis, according to new research from retirement living provider Audley Group. With the general election around the corner, solving the housing crisis remains a key focus for many. Some 33% of UK respondents believe a reduction in stamp duty would be the most effective policy in addressing housing shortages. This was followed by more initiatives to assist first-time buyers (30%), greater support for older people who want to downsize (30%) and more suitable housing options for older people (30%). Read more on the Property Investor Today website.

https://www.propertyinvestortoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/11/stamp-duty-reform-is-needed-to-solve-the-housing-crisis

Over-65s Boxed In By Bungalow Shortage

Millions of retirees are unable to downsize from the family home due to a huge shortage of bungalows. Housebuilder McCarthy and Stone has slammed current planning rules, claiming they restrict the number of one-storey homes being built by prioritising high-density, high-rise developments. And it has called on the Government to consider introducing allocations of age-restricted, bungalow-only sites in local plans. The shortage comes despite a recent survey, carried out by the builder and YouGov, highlighting the popularity of one-storey homes among the older generation. Read more on the Mailonline.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7544531/Over-65s-boxed-bungalow-shortage-millions-retirees-unable-downsize.html

Downsizers Want To Help Offspring Get On Housing Ladder

Home owners in Britain looking to downsize are four times more likely to spend their extra cash getting their kids on the property ladder, rather than supporting them through their education, according to new research. A survey of 1,000 home owners aged 55 and over by full service estate agency Yopa found that property takes precedent over education, with only 6% saying they would support their children through university compared to 22% wanting to help them get on the property ladder. While 23% of downsizers would like to spend more on their kids, more than twice as many would rather indulge themselves. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/downsizers-in-britain-want-to-help-offspring-get-on-housing-ladder/

Housing Shortage Creates Downsizing Woes

A shortage of small properties is making it harder for retirees to downsize, equity release adviser Responsible Life has claimed. According to the firm's research, the downsizing dilemma is so bad that there is double the number of four bedroom properties for every two-bedroom house in 16 per cent of places. Responsible Life surveyed the number of four-bed and two-bed houses for sale in 120 major UK towns and cities and found Cambridge and Rugby to be the worst affected areas, where there are three four-bed houses for every one two-bed. Overall, in two thirds of areas the number of four bedroom properties outweighs two-bed houses, the adviser stated. Read more on the Financial Times website.

https://www.ftadviser.com/mortgages/2019/04/08/housing-shortage-creates-downsizing-woes/

Incentives To Downsize Would Ease The Housing Crisis

Housing policy is too concentrated on first-time buyers and should be refocused towards 'last-time buyers' to encourage those aged 55+ to downsize, according to a new report for the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI). The report also highlights the role of the financial services industry in expanding mortgage offerings and insurance policies to enable older people to monetise their housing wealth. The UK's housing crisis is the result of a growing population and an inadequate supply of new homes. Demographic analysis suggests that the demand for accommodation could add the equivalent of two new towns, each with 100,000 homes, every year for 25 years. Read more on the EurekAlert! website.

https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/cul-itd022119.php

Stamp Duty Cuts Won't Solve Housing Crisis

Just one in 12 homeowners aged 65 or over would consider moving if stamp duty was cut or abolished. Reducing stamp duty tax for so-called last-time buyers has been suggested as a way to encourage older homeowners to downsize, freeing up valuable housing stock for younger families.  But research from equity release adviser Key suggests the impact of such a move would be limited. It found just 8 per cent of over-65s who own a home would be prompted to downsize if there were to be a change in the tax. Read more on the Money Observer website.

https://www.moneyobserver.com/news/stamp-duty-cuts-wont-solve-housing-crisis

Government Urged To Cut Stamp Duty For Downsizers

The Treasury is being urged to extend its stamp duty cuts to those downsizing, in a bid to boost supply in the housing market. This call comes as the latest housing index shows demand from buyers has risen significantly over the past 12 months.  Haart’s housing market monitor found that the number of buyers registering with estate agents in May had risen by 44.3 per cent over the past year – and was at its highest level for two years. Over the past month the number of new buyers had risen by 3.1 per cent. Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/government-urged-to-cut-stamp-duty-for-downsizers-to-boost-housing-supply/

Government Has No Plans For Stamp Duty Holiday To Encourage Downsizing

Before the Autumn Budget there were calls for older people in Britain wanting to downsize to be given a stamp duty holiday to encourage them to do so and free up houses for families. But the Government has now made it clear that it does not back such a move and has no intention of introducing any such tax break. In written evidence to Parliament’s communities and local government committee on the subject of housing for older people, the Treasury says that providing a tax break for those looking to downsize benefits an already wealthy group of people. Read more on Property Wire.

Not Enough Being Done To Build Homes For Older People

Taxes on the development of new homes in the UK are scuppering retirement housing development, which has enormous social value and helps free up housing for young buyers and growing families, new research suggests. The analysis from think tank Demos says there is evidence of a looming crisis in the supply of housing for older people, as current policy favours developers building starter properties, rather than also supporting older people to downsize which would spark a positive chain reaction in the housing market. Demos found widespread support for policies to help them downsize, including stamp duty exemption, practical help with moving and opportunities to try before you buy. Read more on Property Wire.

Stamp Duty Is Making The Housing Crisis Worse

Stamp duty is making the housing crisis worse because it is deterring older homeowners from downsizing, it has been claimed. A report by the London School of Economics and the VATT Institute for Economic Research claimed that the rate of home moving would be 27 per cent higher if the levy was completely abolished. It identified both younger and older homeowners moving in different directions on the housing ladder as the victims of high stamp duty costs - leaving many to stay put in unsuitable homes that are either too small for a growing family, or too big for pensioners. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

House Sales Surge Due To Interest-Only Worries

New research from equity release referral service, Key Partnerships, has revealed that many homeowners are being forced to sell their homes to pay off interest-only mortgages ahead of looming repayment deadlines. The report found that more than two out of five estate agents (43%) say the number of customers forced to sell to pay off interest-only mortgage debts has increased over the past two years. Mortgage debt issues are particularly affecting older customers trying to downsize to less expensive houses to release cash. Key’s research found 73% would-be downsizers are paying off mortgages. Estate agents are regularly asked for advice and guidance on mortgages and remortgages by clients – 58% say clients want support on mortgages. Read more on the property reporter website.

New £200m Firm To Build 'Downsizing' Dwellings For The Over-55s

Healthcare company Octopus and property development specialist Places for People have launched a new £200m retirement housing business which aims to build more than 2,700 homes in the next five years. The new company, called Liberty Retirement Living, will provide homes for people over 55 looking to downsize, and already has five retirement villages in the pipeline. The venture hopes to capitalise on the under-supply of purpose-built homes for older people, which currently makes up just 2pc of the UK’s housing stock, compared to 17pc of stock in the US. According to research from property consultancy Knight Frank, around 25pc of over-55s want to move into some sort of retirement housing in the future -  around 2.5 million households. Read more on the Telegraph website.

Older People To Get Help To Downsize

Theresa May’s government will use its flagship housing strategy to make it easier for older people to move into smaller homes, which could free up larger properties for families. A policy to incentivise more good-quality, new-build sheltered accommodation will be included in a white paper, which also aims to break the dominance of a limited number of large housebuilders. Councils, housing associations and smaller developers will be encouraged to build more as the government sets out how it plans to meet a target of 1m new homes by 2020. Read more on the Guardian website.

Housing White Paper: A Return To Traditional Policy-Making

The Housing White Paper must be the vehicle for building the affordable homes that "just about managing" households need. This requires a coherent and co-ordinated plan across investment, land, planning and construction:

·         The public sector must release land quicker and on a greater scale

·         We should push brownfield land and turn existing planning permissions into active builds through "use it or lose it" powers.

·         We can help older people who wish to downsize to do so

·         We must embrace new technologies, such as offsite manufacturing, to make housebuilding faster and more efficient

·         We must unleash the latent investment capacity of councils and housing associations, even if that jars with political ideology, because they are the best-fit deliverers of affordable housing.

Read more on the RICS website.

Council Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Catherine McKinnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discretionary powers he proposes to allow local authorities to (a) provide older residents with lifetime local authority tenancies and (b) tailor fixed-term tenancies to suit local housing needs.

Gavin Barwell: We have introduced fixed term tenancies for all new council tenancies to ensure we get the best use out of our social housing stock and focus this valuable resource on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. The changes will apply to new tenants, but will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home or those required to move by their landlord. Where existing lifetime tenants choose to move, councils will be able to grant the tenant a further lifetime tenancy in their new home in circumstances to be set out in regulations. We have not finalised the draft regulations but expect these will include, for example, where tenants, including older people, downsize into a smaller home. Fixed term tenancies must be between two and ten years in length, or may be longer in the case of families with children, to cover the time a child is in school education. We will issue statutory guidance to set out the circumstances in which councils may grant longer term tenancies and expect this to include lettings to older people. Accompanying guidance will also make clear that, where a tenant's circumstances are broadly unchanged at the end of the fixed term, we expect landlords will normally grant a further tenancy in the same property.

'More Older People's Housing Could Save Taxpayer £14bn'

The taxpayer could save £14.5bn over 50 years if just one couple among every 50 older homeowners downsizes into specialist retirement housing. That is the finding of a report by older people’s specialist housing association Anchor and Strategic Society Centre. The report, entitled Valuing Retirement Housing, uses a wide range of datasets to provide estimates of savings retirement housing can generate for local and central government. It estimates one extra person moving into specialised retirement housing could save £9,700 over 10 years due to fewer falls, reduced home and residential care. A couple moving into retirement housing could save the taxpayer £54,800 due to freeing up a home for first-time buyers, creating more retirement wealth for them and less reliance on housing benefit. Read more on Inside Housing.

Bedroom Tax Failing To Free Up Larger Homes

The bedroom tax is failing to free up larger social homes in London, according to research by the G15 group of housing associations. Interim findings from the Real London Lives project reveal around a quarter of tenants were affected by the bedroom tax between 2013 and 2015, but 74% of those affected in 2013 remained in the same situation over the three-year study period. Of the remaining one quarter, 12% stopped receiving housing benefit and 14% no longer had extra bedrooms due to changes in family circumstances.  Only a handful of residents affected by the bedroom tax said they had moved as a direct result of the policy. Read more on the G15 website.

Demand For Retirement Homes In UK Slows

The uptake of retirement housing in the UK softened in the second quarter of this year as many downsizers paused plans ahead of the European Union referendum vote, according to the latest quarterly review. Overall new buyer registrations for retirement properties slipped by over 20% from the first quarter to 4,744, a 30% fall on the same period last year, as uncertainty before the referendum slowed the market. However, the data from retirement property specialist Retirement Homesearch, also shows that the number of property viewings at 2,974 and instructions at 513 remained steady on first quarter numbers, showing that registered buyers are still actively looking to downsize.  Read more on the Property Wire website.