BFW-Studie - European Union of Developers and House Builders

Housing for Senior Citizens
Summary
Across Europe the proportion of people aged over 65 will rise from the current approximate
17 percent to 28 percent in 2020.
The sharp increase in the group of the population requiring nursing care and the decreasing
domestic nursing potential justify the increased need for homes to meet the
needs of the elderly.
On average one percent of all homes in Europe meet the needs of the elderly – Belgium
and the Netherlands dominate with proportions of two and five percent.
Given current assumptions an additional 800,000 homes in Germany must be modernised
to meet the needs of the elderly by 2020 to cope with growing demand.
The individual housing adaptation in Great Britain and the Netherlands should be a
guiding approach for Germany due to the low density of regulations and the favourable
subsidy environment.
Household-related services and the catering for senior citizens in the domestic environment
are offered in almost all of the surveyed countries. But only a restricted range of
supply has been available in Eastern Europe up to now.
The market for housing for senior citizens is assessed as a future market with a significant
growth potential for the coming years in all of the analysed European countries.
To date only a few cross-border investments in housing for senior citizens have been
recorded due to the largely local or national characteristics of the market structure to
date.
Accommodation and care concepts for living in old age must be developed further in
Europe and promoted through financial assistance from the public sector.
BFW-Study 2007 19