Tax breaks needed for older homeowners, says Grosvenor
News
by
Louise Dransfield
Grosvenor has called for tax incentives to encourage older homeowners to downsize to free up much needed housing stock in London.
The firm, in a new report looking at the impact of ageing populations on cities, said the number of people aged over 65 in the capital is expected to increase to 18% by 2045 up from 13% currently.
The 5% jump in London’s elderly population is part of a predicted sharp rise in the number of elderly across all member countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development over the next 30 years.
Grosvenor has called for tax incentives to encourage older homeowners to downsize to free up much needed housing stock in London.
The firm, in a new report looking at the impact of ageing populations on cities, said the number of people aged over 65 in the capital is expected to increase to 18% by 2045 up from 13% currently.
The 5% jump in London’s elderly population is part of a predicted sharp rise in the number of elderly across all member countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development over the next 30 years.
By 2045 it is anticipated that there will be an extra 146m elderly people across OECD member countries, such as Japan and Germany, which would also for the first time in history make the older population the largest age group globally.
Already in the UK there is an estimated 11.4m potential last-time buyers (homeowners over 55), but in England only 2% of households with occupiers aged over 65 have moved in the past seven years and up to 80% of the elderly own and occupy their own home, the report added.
This has led to a growing number of elderly living alone and under-occupying large houses, in typically quiet, low-density suburban locations instead of actively downsizing, as many chose to stay put in their homes due to long-term community attachments.
“A financial incentive to sell, and an exemption from stamp duty when buying, could be very beneficial [in getting older people to downsize],” Simon Harding Roots, executive director at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, said.
He added: ”There is currently an acute lack of the type of accommodation in London that suits all ages. Developers need to capture those elements of a home that older people particularly value, whether that is spacious rooms, wider corridors, storage areas, or some outside space.
“Including a range of different sized blocks and building with flexibility into a development so the units can be adapted later on is a very cost-efficient way of accommodating residents’ future needs.”
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