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Why more older Australians are living in shared housing
An increasing number of older Australians are living in share housing. A relatively new group to emerge on the share-housing scene, they are choosing to share for financial reasons, but finding unexpected social benefits.
Share housing across all age groups shows it’s mainly driven by financial constraints. In older age, the experience of this is gendered.
2019
Themes:
Housing in an ageing Australia: Nest and nest egg?
Homeownership serves multiple purposes over the life cycle: It acts as a home as well as a store of wealth to guarantee financial security in retirement. Its lack in old age compromises security of both tenure and finances. Much has been written about housing and homeownership. Here we apply the prism of population ageing to bring new insights to the topic.
This brief is in three parts.
2019
Dignity and choice: An inclusive future for our ageing population
Around the world, advanced economies are grappling with the challenges of an ageing population. Despite this, city shaping decisions are often made without sufficient consideration of how cities will change over the coming decades.
2019
Mortgage stress and precarious home ownership: implications for older Australians
This research investigated the growing numbers of middle aged and older Australians who are carrying mortgage debt into retirement and paying off higher levels of debt relative to house values and income. Between 1987 and 2015, mortgage debt among older mortgagors increased by 600 per cent (from $27,000 to over $185,000).
2019
'Meanwhile use' properties offer potential as a short-term solution to social housing needs
A vacant Sydney nursing home awaiting redevelopment has been lent to a women's shelter, with experts claiming examples like this could offer a short-term solution to Australia's lack of public housing. It is designed to bridge the gap between crisis accommodation and permanent living.
2019
Themes:
The Emerging Crisis of Aged Homelessness: Could Housing Solutions Be Funded by Avoidance of Excess Shelter, Hospital, and Nursing Home Costs?
This report summarizes a multi-site study in three localities – Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles County – of the anticipated future of the aged homeless population, its likely impacts on health and shelter systems and resulting costs, and the potential for housing solutions.
Specifically, this report summarizes the following analyses:
- Forecasts of the size of the aged homeless population
2019
Fall in ageing Australians’ home-ownership rates looms as seismic shock for housing policy
Outright home ownership has long been regarded as a supporting pillar of Australian retirement incomes policies.
2019
Themes:
A 21st Century eco-almshouse: St. John’s Almshouses, Lichfield
The St. John’s Almshouse project comprises 18 new flats within two brand new, Passivhaus certified buildings set within an extensive landscaping scheme in the grounds of the existing Grade I listed Almshouses in Lichfield, UK.
The Almshouses provide sheltered accommodation, or more specifically, ‘independent living for older people, with neighbourly support and care’.
2019
Social Crises: housing, isolation and an ageing population
Taking the idea of intergenerational living more seriously could help ease some of the problems currently facing the young and old in the UK.
2019
Themes:
Preventing Homelessness: A Review of the International Evidence
This rapid review of the international evidence was designed to look for lessons in developing effective homelessness prevention from other countries.
The review found three essentials for effective homelessness prevention.
1. Prevention must be part of an integrated homelessness strategy.
2.
2019
"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."