Government ministers have vowed to provide incentives for homeowners living in large family homes without their adult children to downsize, as part of a White Paper aimed at tackling the UK’s housing shortage.
On Sunday ministers vowed to make it ‘easier’ for older homeowners to move into sheltered accommodation, offering help with the costs of moving or decorating to incentivise older homeowners to move.
The initiative comes after a report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found that 2.6million family homes could be released on to the property market if older owners downsized.
The details will be written in the Housing White Paper, expected to be published on Tuesday. Housing Minister Gavin Barwell confirmed to ITV’s political programme on Sunday that freeing up more family homes will form part of the Government’s strategy.
Barwell confirmed that there will incentives for older people “to sell big family homes they’re no longer using”. He said:
“We’ve got a lot of demographic change in the country and an increasing elderly population, so it’s not just about how many houses you build, but are you building the right kind of houses? If we can make it easier for elderly people to move it releases family homes that we’re desperate for. It’s a really interesting idea”.
However, the report also acknowledged the fact that there is a “very strong emotional dimension to people’s homes”, and that moving home is a big task and “both physical and emotional”.
Whitehall officials also stressed that ministers have no intention of putting pressure on anyone to sell their home against their will.