Understanding housing and neighbourhood preferences of households aged 55 or older

A study about a variety of households, looking for a house in the mid rent or owner-occupied housing sector in the Netherlands

Master thesis (2021)

Authors

B.S. Kok Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

H.J.F.M. Boumeester Housing Systems - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
J.S.C.M. Hoekstra Housing Institutions & Governance - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
Copyright: © 2021 Bram Kok
Housing preferences Private rental sector Conjoint analysis Owner-occupied People aged 55 years and older Housing qualities Vicinity qualities
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Published Date

06-07-2021

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

Ageing is a demographic development in the Netherlands that leads to an increasing amount of older households. Most people aged 55 years and older do not want to move or cannot find a house that meets their demand. This
is expected to block the housing flow and increase the already existing mismatch on the housing market, which will lead to difficulties on the housing market for other household types. To give the other household types more
opportunities on the housing market, houses for people aged 55 years and older need to be built. However, policy makers and housing developers often do not exactly know how to attract these households. In this thesis, the qualitative housing demand of people aged 55 years and older is researched. The main research question was What kind of new housing is needed to best accommodate the different 55 years or older groups in the Netherlands?. With a combination of literature research, traditional surveys and a conjoint analysis an answer is given to this question. The focus lay not only on the independent housing preferences, but also on the relative importance of the different preferences. A distinction between households based on age, mobility, future household composition and preferred owner-occupied housing type is made. The research showed that most household groups have equal preferences but the importance of certain housing qualities in their housing choice differs. The price and suitability for elderly people
were important in the housing choice of most groups. But for groups that want to move to apartments (older people, less mobile people) for example, the housing type is more important and the tenure is less important compared to groups that want to move to one-family houses. This becomes especially clear when comparing the trade-offs different age groups make. To accomodate the different 55 years and older groups, it is best to focus on the housing preferenes of people aged 65 years and older, as these people are pickier than people aged 55-64 and housing preferences less often change after this age.