Saga calls for Stamp Duty exemption to help ease the costs of 'rightsizing'
Commenting on reports of Government plans to encourage downsizing in retirement, Saga's director of communications, Paul Green, calls for a "Stamp Duty exemption for downsizing and buying age-appropriate homes."
If the Prime Minister can bring in measures to enable people to 'rightsize' in retirement this would be a true inter-generational solution to the housing crisis and would deliver on Mrs May's promise of helping young and old alike.
People should be free to choose how and where they live. However, there are many people who want to downsize but are put off because of the cost. Saga has been lobbying successive Governments for a Stamp Duty exemption for downsizing and buying age-appropriate homes.
This would be a triple win for Britain and for inter-generational fairness. Independent economists estimated this would prompt an extra 111,000 family homes would come onto the market; boost the building of homes suited to older generations; and, it could also boost the Government coffers due to an estimated £500 million in Stamp Duty from consequential house moves.
There are some 3.4 million households aged over 65 who are potential rightsizers: 1.1 million have one spare bedroom and 2.3 million have two or more spare bedrooms. Saga research shows that seven in ten over 50s would like to 'right size' in retirement to smaller homes or age-related developments. Britain needs a homes to be adapted or built to help older people live well in later life. Only 1% of Britain live in retirement developments, compared with 17% in the US and 13% in Australia.
