New housing plans “should help people stay in their homes”

05/03/2008

The new Government strategy on housing our ageing population has been broadly welcomed by In Retirement Services, one of the UK’s leading providers of equity release solutions.

Daren Carter, their managing director, told Mature Times that: "The government’s proposals on house building for an ageing population should be welcomed, and could have wider benefits than those identified in their paper.

"When our clients are considering equity release we always start by looking at alternative ways to raise money, including trading down to a smaller property to release capital or benefit from lower running costs and their eligibility for State benefits

"However, while trading down is often logical, there are two factors which prohibit many homeowners.

"On an emotional level, many elderly people may have been in their homes for a number of years, and will often have a significant personal attachment to the property.

"On a practical level, some clients choose not to trade down due to the fact that much of the capital released from the sale of their home will be eaten up by the cost of adapting the new home to meet their needs. The government’s plans should help to alleviate this problem.

"A further social benefit is the fact that the current housing crisis is in part due to a lack of available housing, especially those looking for family homes; 56% of over 65s, or over 5.4 million people, live in homes with two or more spare rooms. If more people choose to downsize, this will in turn free up more housing stock, especially larger homes for young families."