Staying put out of choice or constraint? The residential choice behaviour of Dutch older adults

Abstract

Residential mobility varies 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 (i.e., the wish to age in place) or to constraint (i.e., the lack of alternatives). 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 finds a strong preference for the current dwelling, 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 in housing preferences among Dutch older adults.