According to research from financial services group Legal and General and economics consultancy CEBR, there are now 3.1 million homes owned by Britons over 55, otherwise known as last time buyers.
Of these, the number who have considered downsizing has risen from 32 per cent to 39 per cent in the last three years.
But for many of these older homeowners, downsizing has proved too difficult. Of all last time buyers who have considered downsizing in the last five years, nearly half said they didn’t move because there were no suitable properties available.
The research found that the total value of the housing stock owned by last time buyers in the UK now sits at £938bn and will reach the £1 trillion mark this year.
According to Phil Bayliss, head of later living at Legal and General, the research underscores the amount of potential housing stock locked up by older homeowners with nowhere to go.
“A large section of our housing stock – worth nearly £1 trillion – is under-occupied and owned by people over the age of 55,” said Bayliss. “If rightsizers were able to move to a property more aligned to their desired lifestyle and needs, vast swathes of homes would be freed up for growing families and second steppers.”
The research also revealed that the share of last time buyers who have not been able to downsize due to a lack of suitable properties has nearly doubled from 25 per cent in 2015 to 49 per cent today.
Commenting on the results, Paula Higgins, chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance said:
“The problem is clear – older buyers simply have nowhere to move too. Trying to solve the housing crisis by focusing on first time buyers alone is akin to bailing water out of a leaking boat instead of fixing the hole.
To get us out of this mess, we need to not only look at numbers of homes being built, but whether they are the right types of homes, in the right places and with the right infrastructure and facilities.”