While Housing Minister Gavin Barwell confirmed that downsizing will form part of the housing white paper so far details of how it will be encouraged are unclear.
The government should overhaul stamp duty to help older homeowners downsize, Legal & General Housing Partnerships director Stephen Smith urged.
While Housing Minister Gavin Barwell confirmed that downsizing will form part of the housing white paper so far details of how it will be encouraged are unclear.
Stephen Smith, director of Legal & General Housing Partnerships, said: “By incentivising last-time buyers to move with an overhaul of the frankly outdated stamp duty tax, the government could make huge strides towards redressing our housing crisis."
L&G’s own research showed there are 3.3 million ‘last-time buyers’ looking to downsize and 5.3 million homes ‘under occupied’ in the UK, meaning space isn’t properly utilised.
Last-time buyers own £820bn of housing wealth in the UK and typically live in four bedroom homes, despite only needing a two bed.
Almost a third of older homeowners considered downsizing in the last five years but only 7% actually did.
Smith also recommended building more properties specifically designed for older buyers.
He added: “Older homeowners are pivotal to the health of the wider market.
“Millions of people across the UK are trapped in homes no longer suitable for their needs, due to the prohibitive costs of downsizing as well as a severe lack of suitable properties available for them to move into. "
