BFW-Studie - European Union of Developers and House Builders

Housing for Senior Citizens
factor in making provisions for old age, as not only rents are eliminated through fully
owned property in old age; social systems are relieved thanks to better secured senior citizens.
The ‘Age Opportunity’ programme in Great Britain has offered an integrated solution
to the problem of ageing since March 2005. In addition to subsidies to increase employment
among older people (50+) and to raise their income, active ageing is pursued
with the goal of integrating senior citizens more effectively into society. Services are offered
which enable senior citizens to lead a self determined life even at an advanced age.
The housing stock in perspective
Both falling building rates in the rental property construction sector and the sharp rise in
population groups requiring nursing create a central set of tasks for the development
business for the next decades. The fact that the readiness to move from the family home
falls sharply in old age must be taken into account. This justifies an increased need
to adapt the housing stock to cater for the elderly inside the available residential and city
districts and makes the development of supplementary infrastructure for health and
social care of senior citizens necessary.
The reinforcement of independent living with low-threshold care facilities therefore not
only offers substantial advantages in terms of quality of living and life compared with accommodating
older population groups in residential and nursing homes, but also significantly
takes pressure off national nursing and social assistance funds.
High home ownership rate among
the 65 + target group
78 or 76 percent of all senior citizens in Belgium and Great Britain own their homes. Otherwise,
the proportion across Europe is just under 65 percent on average. With home
ownership of approximately 55 percent, Germany is at the back of the queue. The housing
ownership rate of the over 65ers is above average in all European countries. As part
of older people’s preference to grow old in a normal home, the need to adapt the housing
stock to the needs of the elderly is clear. But supplementary services, such as care,
nursing or other support services, catering to the individual needs of older residents, must
also be offered to let senior citizens live a self-determined life in their own four walls. The
housing stocks available nonetheless reveal significant internal as well as external barriers
to this.
Level of supply of barrierfree homes
differs sharply
Barrier-free/low barrier accommodation catering to the needs of the elderly exists in the
housing stock in 10 of the 13 surveyed countries. The countries in Western and Northern
Europe (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands,
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