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Housing-related Well-being in Older People: The Impact of Environmental and Financial Influences

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  • Joan Costa-Font

Abstract

With the ageing of populations in Europe, one can expect new pressures on the existing housing stock to accommodate those older individuals with mobility problems; at the same time, housing assets are expected to be called upon to guarantee financial security for older homeowners. The accessibility and suitability of housing, and the financial security that housing provides, may exert an independent influence on well-being; to what extent either factor prevails in influencing well-being has important policy implications. This paper empirically examines the impact of investment and environmental housing influences on satisfaction with housing in a population of older people. Data are used from the European country which had the greatest number of homeowners at the time of the survey (Spain), and where at the same time older people rely heavily on informal caregiving. Robust evidence is presented to suggest that satisfaction with housing in old age is indeed independently associated with environmental influences. Although homeownership does improve well-being related to housing, home equity does not exhibit a significant and independent effect.

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  • Joan Costa-Font, 2013. "Housing-related Well-being in Older People: The Impact of Environmental and Financial Influences," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(4), pages 657-673, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:50:y:2013:i:4:p:657-673
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098012456247
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    1. Sviatlana Engerstam & Abukar Warsame & Mats Wilhelmsson, 2023. "Exploring the Effects of Municipal Land and Building Policies on Apartment Size in New Residential Construction in Sweden," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-25, April.
    2. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Health shocks and housing downsizing: How persistent is ‘ageing in place’?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 490-508.
    3. Julie Byles & Cassie Curryer & Kha Vo & Peta Forder & Deborah Loxton & Deirdre McLaughlin, 2018. "Changes in housing among older women: Latent class analysis of housing patterns in older Australian women," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(4), pages 917-934, March.
    4. Johanna Cresswell-Smith & Kristian Wahlbeck & Jorid Kalseth, 2022. "Life Conditions as Mediators of Welfare State Effect on Mental Wellbeing among Oldest Old in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Yafei Liu & Martin Dijst & Stan Geertman, 2017. "The subjective well-being of older adults in Shanghai: The role of residential environment and individual resources," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(7), pages 1692-1714, May.
    6. Costa-Font, Joan, 2017. "“Institutionalization aversion” and the willingness to pay for home health care," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 62-69.

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