Ageing population puts further strain on housing levels

A new report has revealed that the total value of housing output in Great Britain increased by 30.4% and the number of new housing starts rose by 29% between 2010 and 2014.

The report “Housebuilding’ from Key Note shows that despite what might appear to be positive news in terms of the numbers and value, the housebuilding market has yet to recover to the levels pre 2008/2009 before the financial crisis.

The study provides an evaluation of the housing market by examining the market size, current and future market trends, the key drivers presently affecting the industry, as well as providing a competitor analysis of the main operators operating in the industry. The report also provides a political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legislative analysis of the housing sector, with one section focussing on the impact the ageing population has on the industry.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), it is predicted that between 2017 and 2037, the population of the UK is anticipated to rise from 63.7 million to 73.3 million, a rise of 15.1% over the 20-year period. It is also forecast that the number of older people will swell considerably; in 2017 it is estimated that there will 5.5 million people aged 75 and over in the UK. By 2037, this number will have increased by 72.7% to 9.5 million. In the same period, the number of people aged 85 and over will increase from 1.7 million to 3.6 million.

The report suggests that this increase in the number of ageing people in the UK will put increased strain upon the already struggling housing market.

This means that the need to build new homes at a greater pace to keep up with demand has never been greater.

In the short term, it’s predicted that there will be a 13.2% rise in the number of new housing starts between 2015 and 2017, with the value of housebuilding expected to rise by 7.4% over the same period.

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