Housing choices and housing plans of older people – in search of a tipping point.

• Planning for the housing situation of an ageing population is one of the challenges of many countries today. In Sweden housing provision is mainly a matter at the municipal level where the municipalities take on the responsibility for facilitating for the different actors to realise their housing plans and for influencing the situation in the housing market. In order to do this successfully, knowledge about the housing preferences of the different actors is crucial. Most people today remain in ordinary housing all through life. In Sweden only 5 per cent of the population aged 65 and above move to assisted living. This results in greater demands on the housing that is available in the ordinary housing market and on the municipalities in ascertaining that suitable housing is being provided. In order to increase our understanding of the needs and wants of the ageing population, a survey named SHIELD, Survey of Housing Intentions among the ELDerly, was conducted in 2013 in which the respondents answered questions about their current housing situation and their housing plans for the future. The research questions raised regarded the choice of tenure and housing size and were stratified on age and municipality type to certify analyses of these variables. The SHIELD-survey was sent out nation-wide, to 4000 people aged 55 years and older resulting in a response rate at 60,7 per cent (2400 individual). In this study the housing preferences as regard housing, housing location and housing type were in focus in relation to age. The aim was to distinguish if there is a time in life when the preferences, locations and/or the type of housing the respondents would prefer changes, a tipping point. Preliminary results of 10 year cohorts show that the most marked change in preferences and behaviour is between the cohort 75-84 years old and the oldest cohort 85+ but it is also evident from the study that there is a gradual change over time, such as moves from large to small housing, from owner occupation to rental housing that begin already between the first two cohorts, 55–64 and 65–74 years old. The survey shows that in general respondents in the major cities and in the rural or tourism-dependent municipalities are less inclined to move compared to respondents from other types of municipalities.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi -- Kulturgeografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography -- Human Geography (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Older people

Elderly

Survey data

Residential mobility

Housing

Municipalities

Sweden

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)