The Home Maintenance and Improvement Behaviors of Older Adults in Boston

Jaclene Begley and Lauren Lambie-Hanson

Housing Policy Debate, 2015, vol. 25, issue 4, 754-781

Abstract: Prior studies have found that older homeowners spend less money maintaining and improving their homes, which may reduce their quality of life and eventually pose larger, more costly housing problems. Delayed repairs and improvements may also have adverse spillover effects on neighborhoods. We explore the home maintenance expenditures, housing conditions, and credit access of older homeowners in Boston, Massachusetts, where many aging adults have limited incomes and live in older structures but also have substantial home equity that could be used as a financial resource. We find evidence that older homeowners spend less on home maintenance, and many live in low-income areas with high numbers of constituent complaints about housing conditions and less access to cheaper forms of credit. A particular policy intervention, the Boston Senior Home Repair Program, helps by providing home repair assistance to low- and moderate-income older homeowners.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2015.1004097

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