Unpicking the downsizing discourse: understanding the housing moves made by older people in England
Gemma Burgess and
Valentine Quinio
Housing Studies, 2021, vol. 36, issue 8, 1177-1192
Abstract:
The UK’s ageing population has generated contradictory policy responses. On the one hand, facing the lack of specialist housing for the elderly, older people are incentivised to ‘age in place’; on the other, to move to smaller homes to free-up family housing, reducing pressure on housing supply. This ‘downsizing’ discourse is presented as a ‘win-win’ situation which benefits older people and the rest of society. However, a survey and interviews conducted with over 55 s in England reveals more nuanced patterns of residential moves, behaviours and aspirations than suggested by ‘downsizing’. Only a minority of older households choose to downsize. This paper looks into this mismatch between observed housing choices and the construction of downsizing as a policy goal. It suggests that theoretically speaking, the very notion of downsizing is problematic and difficult to define and is an over-simplistic concept which in reality applies to a heterogeneous group of people.
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:chosxx:v:36:y:2021:i:8:p:1177-1192
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DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2020.1754346
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