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Housing tenure and older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2012

Sheelah Connolly
Sheelah Connolly*
Affiliation:
Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
*
Address for correspondence: Sheelah Connolly, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, Cairnes Building, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. Email: sheelah.connolly@nuigalway.ie
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Summary

Housing tenure takes a variety of forms, the most common of which are rental and owner-occupation. Currently, in the United Kingdom (UK), approximately 70% of older people live in owner-occupier properties, with the majority of the remainder renting from a public or private landlord. Research has consistently shown higher levels of morbidity and mortality among renters compared with owner-occupiers. However, it is unclear whether this is due to tenure acting as a proxy for other indicators of socio-economic status, such as income, which directly influences health, or whether other characteristics associated with tenure, including housing quality and location, explain the association. Untangling these competing influences of tenure on health is important, as it may provide clues on tackling health inequalities at older ages. Tenure too, appears to be related to the risk of long-stay care admission, with owner-occupiers significantly less likely to leave their home than renters; more work is required to identify why this is the case, as it may provide some insights on facilitating ageing in place.

Keywords

housing tenureolder peoplemorbidity
Type
Psychological and social gerontology
Information
Reviews in Clinical Gerontology , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , November 2012 , pp. 286 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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