No place like home? Residential mobility and housing preferences of older adults in the Netherlands

This thesis is set against a background of rapid population ageing and the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation. The related changes in the number and proportion of older adults in our population will have numerous implications. One associated issue is the provision of (suitable) housing for older adults. In order to successfully plan housing provision, knowledge about the housing preferences of older adults is crucial.
The aim of this thesis has been to provide an understanding of the factors influencing residential mobility and housing preferences of older adults. In particular, it has focused on the possible differences in residential choice behaviour among (future) older adults. To gain an understanding of the residential moving behaviour, the age-articulated interregional migration flows in the Netherlands and the factors likely to influence considerations about moving and actual mobility, were analysed using pooled data from Housing Research Netherlands (HRN) surveys from 2006 to 2012. In order to assess the relative importance that older adults give to various housing characteristics, a conjoint choice experiment was set up in Groningen, The Netherlands in 2011. Lastly, a lifestyle segmenting approach was used to determine meaningful segments of older adults with (more or less) the same viewpoints, motivations and attitude with respect to housing.