Housing för the elderly - Supply, demand and wellbeing
Time: Fri 2025-08-29 13.00
Location: Kollegiesalen, Brinellvägen 8, Stockholm
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/64661429211
Language: Swedish
Subject area: Real Estate and Construction Management
Doctoral student: Maria Kulander , Fastighetsföretagande och finansiella system
Opponent: Docent Helena Bohman, Malmö universitet
Supervisor: Docent Inga-Lill Söderberg, Fastighetsföretagande och finansiella system; Universitetslektor Herman Donner, Fastigheter och byggande; Universitetslektor Mats Landström, Högskolan i Gävle
QC 20250805
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to further explore and analyse the housing situation ofthe elderly in terms of supply, demand and well-being. The thesis contributesto existing knowledge in the field of housing for the elderly. This includes adiscussion of the dominant idea that the individual should age in place, i.e. inan existing home. The chosen context is Sweden. The doctoral thesis consistsof four articles, of which three are published and one is under scientific review.
One of the contributions that this thesis makes is that the elderly are not ahomogeneous group, but rather consist of younger elderly who are still active,and older elderly, who may need more help with daily life. This is of course alsorelated to physical health factors, but these are not studied in more detail inthe thesis, which has a focus on the perceived well-being of the elderly.Previous research has overestimated the willingness of the elderly to remain intheir existing home, and thereby underestimated their willingness to move toother housing.
In addition to the elderly's own preferences, they are also affected byopportunities and flexibility in the housing market. The number of homes onthe market is adjusted primarily through a price mechanism and onlysecondarily by building or demolishing homes, so the adjustment is slow.People who need to live in a retirement home also need a certificate from asocial welfare officer, which is becoming increasingly difficult as the number ofelderly people increases over time. It is also the municipality that decideswhether and when a new retirement home is to be built. Previous research onretirement homes is limited, as they are not subject to market pricing and opendemand. The thesis thus also makes a contribution in one respect as it alsoaddresses the effect of the Ädelreformen from 1992. The purpose of this was tostreamline the allocation of housing for the elderly and at the same timeprovide fewer institutions, but the results of the thesis question whether thewell-being of the age group has really been improved by the idea of aging inplace.
All municipalities are responsible for ensuring that all people in themunicipality have somewhere to live, but where and how people live can vary.Some municipalities also rely on being able to rent from other municipalitiesthat currently have vacancies. The distribution of retirement homes across thecountry varies geographically and is influenced by factors such as urbanization,as well as the size of the municipality and the tax revenues for the municipality.This thesis addresses several different markets – both free pricing and theutility value system in the rental market and retirement homes – and differentmunicipalities can choose different ways to solve their residents' housing needsbased on local demand. Just as there is a population pyramid at the bottom forSweden and the EU, it can be imagined that each municipality has its ownpopulation pyramid to base itself on when solving housing problems withregard to both housing for the elderly and overcrowding. The thesiscontributes to increased knowledge about the elderly's options in the housingmarket, their own preferences and well-being, and suggests measures that canfacilitate increased flexibility and adaptation to perceived needs.