Housing Preferences of an Ageing Population: Investigation in the Diversity Among Dutch Older Adults

Mobility on the housing market strongly declines with age. In contrast to younger age groups, older adults show a tendency to ‘stay put’. There is little evidence whether this immobility of older adults is due to choice or to constraint. This study makes an empirical analysis of the underlying preferences for housing of Dutch older adults by reporting the stated preferences of Dutch older adults for bundles of housing characteristics. It offers insight in the relative importance of various aspects of housing and explores whether these preferences are stable for different age groups. The study found a strong preference for the current dwelling (i.e. staying put), especially for the older age groups. Running separate models for different age groups results in an improvement of the log likelihood, indicating the presence of heterogeneity among Dutch older adults. The heterogeneity among older adults is further analyzed by differentiating older adults on their attitudes and personality traits. This results in the identification of five groups of older adults who have (more or less) the same view, motivations and attitude with respect to housing. Between these five groups the heterogeneity in housing characteristics is apparent.