The European Commission’s Green Paper: reverse mortgages as a source of retirement income
The European Commission’s Green Paper: reverse mortgages as a source of retirement income

Summary/Abstract: This article is based on research projects funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Age UK, and by the EU under FP7 (SSHT-CT-2008-216865). There is already considera- ble,though not full, agreement about the main solutions that will need to be pursued, central to which are that Europeans are going to have to get used to working until an older age and to save more for their retirement. But, while the potential of housing equity, as a means of meeting people’s income needs in old age, may form a relatively minor part of the overall policy package under discussion, it has actually long been discussed within the European Union. Inso- far as the general pattern within member states is of a positive correlation between income (both pre and post retirement), and both housing and non-housing wealth, for many of those most in need housing equity is not a relevant solution. An important conclusion from the evi- dence of the uses made of housing equity, however, is that the factors influencing individuals and households are different from the factors driving government interest. The findings from the survey, however, suggest that governments may need to do more to encourage and enable lower-income home-owners to draw on their housing equity. Extending the market for reverse mortgages, then, is likely to require considerable cooperation between all stakeholders – gov- ernments, civil societies and institutions.

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