The Intergenerational Foundation (IF), a newly-created non-party-political charity promoting the rights of younger generations, said that older generations must be encouraged to downsize, saying the trend was stagnating among over-65s.
In its report Hoarding of Housing: The intergenerational crisis in the housing market, the IF said that 16m people in England live in under-occupied property, equating 37% of English housing stock, with an estimated 25m surplus bedrooms in England.
It said the debate over the lack of housing supply must take into account existing stock, as well as building and planning issues.
The report said: “‘Whilst these older groups may think they are keeping an “asset” for future generations, the negative impact is felt primarily among the young who face higher lifetime levels of debt and smaller living space as a result.
“The distribution of existing housing stock matters. The growth in new UK supply is extremely slow, at less than one per cent a year. It has also been characterised by the building of small properties.
“The current housing crisis is not principally about Britain having enough housing but about the way it is shared between older and younger generations.”
The IF has called for the government to introduce tax breaks to encourage downsizing and help free up some of under-occupied housing in England.
It said that council tax should be scrapped and placed with a “proper land tax” to “reflect the social costs of occupying housing, particularly housing that is larger than one’s needs.”
The report also suggests exempting older people from Stamp Duty when they move to smaller homes.
