IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i14p5723-d385558.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Older People’s Preferences for Housing and Environment Characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Emma Mulliner

    (Department of the Built Environment, Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Research Institute, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK)

  • Mike Riley

    (Department of the Built Environment, Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Research Institute, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK)

  • Vida Maliene

    (Department of the Built Environment, Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Research Institute, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK)

Abstract

Population ageing presents significant challenges for many countries, one of which is the provision of adequate housing. Developing understanding of the needs and preferences of ageing societies will be crucial in order to assist in the provision of suitable housing and communities that are sustainable in the long term. While a preference to ‘age in place’ is clear in the literature, comparatively less academic research is available on older people’s preferences for more specific housing and environment attributes. The aim of this study is to identify the main housing and environment characteristics that are linked to the health and wellbeing of the elderly and determine the preferences for such characteristics via a survey with UK residents aged 55+. The results indicate a strong preference for independent living and an increasing desire for bungalows in later life. Housing conditions, energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and home adaptions to facilitate ageing in place are particularly important housing characteristics to older people. The location and environment are also key drivers of housing preferences; a safe neighbourhood, accessibility to amenities, public transport, and a clean and walkable environment are particularly important. Preferences varied with age, but gender has a less significant impact on the preferences expressed. The findings of this study will be valuable for stakeholders engaged in housing policy and provision for older people.

Suggested Citation

  • Emma Mulliner & Mike Riley & Vida Maliene, 2020. "Older People’s Preferences for Housing and Environment Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5723-:d:385558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5723/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5723/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Viola Angelini & Anne Laferrère, 2012. "Residential Mobility of the European Elderly," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 58(3), pages 544-569, September.
    2. Ormandy, David & Ezratty, Véronique, 2012. "Health and thermal comfort: From WHO guidance to housing strategies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 116-121.
    3. Christina Severinsen & Mary Breheny & Christine Stephens, 2016. "Ageing in Unsuitable Places," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 714-728, September.
    4. Gary W. Evans & Elyse Kantrowitz & Paul Eshelman, 2002. "Housing Quality and Psychological Well-Being Among the Elderly Population," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(4), pages 381-383.
    5. Philip Bohle & Olivia Rawlings-Way & James Finn & Jessica Ang & David J. Kennedy, 2014. "Housing Choice in Retirement: Community versus Separation," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 108-127, January.
    6. Oiamo, Tor H. & Luginaah, Isaac N. & Baxter, Jamie, 2015. "Cumulative effects of noise and odour annoyances on environmental and health related quality of life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 191-203.
    7. Henshaw, Victoria & Guy, Simon, 2015. "Embodied thermal environments: an examination of older-people's sensory experiences in a variety of residential types," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 233-240.
    8. Clarke, Philippa J. & Ailshire, Jennifer A. & Nieuwenhuijsen, Els R. & de Kleijn - de Vrankrijker, Marijke W., 2011. "Participation among adults with disability: The role of the urban environment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(10), pages 1674-1684, May.
    9. Joan Costa-Font & David Elvira & Oscar Mascarilla-Miró, 2009. "`Ageing in Place'? Exploring Elderly People's Housing Preferences in Spain," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(2), pages 295-316, February.
    10. Russell James, 2008. "Residential Satisfaction of Elderly Tenants in Apartment Housing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 421-437, December.
    11. I-Ming Feng & Jun-Hong Chen & Bo-Wei Zhu & Lei Xiong, 2018. "Assessment of and Improvement Strategies for the Housing of Healthy Elderly: Improving Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-32, March.
    12. Miller, Wendy & Vine, Desley & Amin, Zakaria, 2017. "Energy efficiency of housing for older citizens: Does it matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 216-224.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maria Gabriella Melchiorre & Barbara D’Amen & Sabrina Quattrini & Giovanni Lamura & Marco Socci, 2022. "Caring for Frail Older People Living Alone in Italy: Future Housing Solutions and Responsibilities of Family and Public Services, a Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-29, June.
    2. Eline E. Vos & Henk B. M. Hilderink & Simone R. de Bruin & Allard J. van der Beek & Karin I. Proper, 2022. "The Working Informal Caregiver Model: A Mixed Methods Approach to Explore Future Informal Caregiving by Working Caregivers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Marlena Piekut, 2021. "Between Poverty and Energy Satisfaction in Polish Households Run by People Aged 60 and Older," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-30, September.
    4. Vladimir Dragičević & Miloš Kopić & Darinka Golubović Matić & Aleksandar Grujičić, 2022. "Urban Planning Impact on Mobility and Residential Satisfaction of Older People in Novi Sad," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Ha Thi Khanh Van & Tran Vinh Ha & Takumi Asada & Mikiharu Arimura, 2022. "Vacancy Dwellings Spatial Distribution—The Determinants and Policy Implications in the City of Sapporo, Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-26, September.
    6. Yuxi Liu & Huanting Liu & Qin Chen & Junhui Xiao & Chonghua Wan, 2023. "The Association of Perceived Neighbourhood Environment and Subjective Wellbeing in Migrant Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Canonical Correlation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-12, February.
    7. Micheline Phlix & Ann Petermans & An-Sofie Smetcoren & Jan Vanrie, 2022. "The Happy Home: Ageing, Migration, and Housing in Relation to Older Migrants’ Subjective Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.
    8. Iftekhar, Md Sayed & Polyakov, Maksym & Rogers, Abbie, 2022. "Social preferences for water sensitive housing features in Australia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    9. Fupeng Zhang & Lei Shi & Simian Liu & Jiaqi Shi & Mengfei Cheng & Tansheng Xiang, 2022. "The Ancient Town Residential Environment of the Elderly in Xiangxi Tujia: Survey, Questions, and Recommendations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-25, August.
    10. Claudia Valderrama-Ulloa & Ximena Ferrada & Felipe Herrera, 2023. "Breaking Down Barriers: Findings from a Literature Review on Housing for People with Disabilities in Latin America," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-23, March.
    11. Jung-A Park & Byungsook Choi, 2021. "Factors Affecting the Intention of Multi-Family House Residents to Age in Place in a Potential Naturally Occurring Retirement Community of Seoul in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Haokun Li & Guoqiang Xu & Jiuwang Chen & Junfang Duan, 2022. "Investigating the Adaptive Thermal Comfort of the Elderly in Rural Mutual Aid Homes in Central Inner Mongolia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. I-Ming Feng & Jun-Hong Chen & Bo-Wei Zhu & Lei Xiong, 2018. "Assessment of and Improvement Strategies for the Housing of Healthy Elderly: Improving Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-32, March.
    2. Fernández-Carro Celia, 2012. "Movers or Stayers? Heterogeneity of Older Adults' Residential Profiles Across Continental Europe," European Spatial Research and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 17-32, July.
    3. Ortiz, J. & Casquero-Modrego, N. & Salom, J., 2019. "Health and related economic effects of residential energy retrofitting in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 375-388.
    4. Daniela D’Alessandro & Andrea Rebecchi & Letizia Appolloni & Andrea Brambilla & Silvio Brusaferro & Maddalena Buffoli & Maurizio Carta & Alessandra Casuccio & Liliana Coppola & Maria Vittoria Corazza , 2023. "Re-Thinking the Environment, Cities, and Living Spaces for Public Health Purposes, According with the COVID-19 Lesson: The LVII Erice Charter," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-17, September.
    5. Judite Gonçalves & France Weaver, 2017. "Effects of formal home care on hospitalizations and doctor visits," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 203-233, June.
    6. 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.
    7. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Law, Cherry & Liu, Hui-Hsuan, 2021. "Fuel poverty and financial distress," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Sung-Shun Weng & Yang Liu & Yen-Ching Chuang, 2019. "Reform of Chinese Universities in the Context of Sustainable Development: Teacher Evaluation and Improvement Based on Hybrid Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-23, October.
    9. Fleckinger, Pierre & Glachant, Matthieu & Tamokoué Kamga, Paul-Hervé, 2019. "Energy Performance Certificates and investments in building energy efficiency: A theoretical analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    10. Irene Lebrusán & M. Victoria Gómez, 2022. "The Importance of Place Attachment in the Understanding of Ageing in Place: “The Stones Know Me”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Mara Hammerle & Paul J. Burke, 2022. "Solar PV and energy poverty in Australia's residential sector," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(4), pages 822-841, October.
    12. Wang, Bin & Zacharias, John, 2020. "Noise, odor and passenger density in perceived crowding in public transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 215-223.
    13. Adriana Luciano & Federica Pascale & Francesco Polverino & Alison Pooley, 2020. "Measuring Age-Friendly Housing: A Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-35, January.
    14. Joost van Hoof & Helen Bennetts & Alana Hansen & Jan K. Kazak & Veronica Soebarto, 2019. "The Living Environment and Thermal Behaviours of Older South Australians: A Multi-Focus Group Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-19, March.
    15. Zhonghua Gou & Xiaohuan Xie & Yi Lu & Maryam Khoshbakht, 2018. "Quality of Life (QoL) Survey in Hong Kong: Understanding the Importance of Housing Environment and Needs of Residents from Different Housing Sectors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    16. Yang Xiao & Siyu Miao & Chinmoy Sarkar & Huizhi Geng & Yi Lu, 2018. "Exploring the Impacts of Housing Condition on Migrants’ Mental Health in Nanxiang, Shanghai: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    17. Taleghani, Mohammad & Tenpierik, Martin & Kurvers, Stanley & van den Dobbelsteen, Andy, 2013. "A review into thermal comfort in buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 201-215.
    18. Shi, Zhengyu & Wu, Libo & Zhou, Yang, 2023. "Predicting household energy consumption in an aging society," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    19. Fátima Lima & Paula Ferreira & Vítor Leal, 2022. "The Role of Energy Affordability in the Relationship between Poor Housing and Health Status," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, November.
    20. Maaike Diepstraten & Rudy Douven & Bram Wouterse, 2019. "Can your house keep you out of a nursing home?," CPB Discussion Paper 397, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5723-:d:385558. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.