DOWNSIZING remains unfeasible for almost 343,000 retired people in the South West, hampering prospects for people further down the housing ladder, according to the UK’s biggest retirement housing developer.

Research for McCarthy Stone says 39 per cent of older people in the region would consider moving and 27 per cent think they will need to downsize.

A lack of suitable housing remained one of the main barriers, with 27 per cent of people – or 343,000 – calling for the UK to prioritise development of retiring housing.

Almost a third suggested a stamp duty exemption for downsizing would significantly encourage them to move.

McCarthy Stone said if those who were keen to move were able to do so, it could free up more than £69billion in equity, releasing money for care costs while putting properties onto the market for those further down the ladder.

Verity McKay, McCarthy Stone’s divisional marketing manager for the South west, said: “Over the last few years, we have seen growing narratives that older people are ‘refusing to downsize’ and ‘clogging up the housing market’. However, as these results show, this completely misses the mark.

“The reality is that for many older people in the South West there is a genuine desire to move and downsize, yet little has been done to encourage them to do so. If we are serious about protecting the interests of our ageing population, then the government must rethink its approach to retirement housing to ensure we can begin to deliver the necessary supply.”

There are nearly 12.5m people over 65 in the UK and the population is ageing. Retirement housing makes up two per cent of the housing market and delivers around 7,000 homes a year, while demand is estimated at 30,000 new properties a year.

Verity McKay added: “It is time to move away from these narratives that only serve to exacerbate intergenerational conflicts and instead understand that enabling downsizing is about more than just furthering the interests of older people. If we can finally address the provision of retirement housing, we can begin to free up the market for younger generations and address the housing crisis once and for all.”

The business has called on the government to establish a “later living taskforce” to explore how to address what it says is an under-supply of suitable retirement housing in the UK.