Owning, Renting and Environmental Proactivity: The Role of Housing Tenure in Hypothetical Housing Decisions

Past research indicates that for older individuals, transitioning to a home environment better suited to their needs reduces physical, psychological, and social risks, and may even impact the rate of institutionalization. Tenants, compared to homeowners, are subject to different conditions that influence their decisions to relocate, which can either encourage or inhibit them in their pursuit of environmental proactivity. This study investigates whether tenants make relocation decisions based on different factors than do owners. For this purpose, hypothetical relocation decisions are made under the influence of certain ownership constellations. The dataset consists of 264 participants. They were asked about home ownership and then presented with housing vignettes (factorial survey) to indicate how likely they would be to move to a new apartment. The data were analyzed using group comparisons and zero-inflated models. Tenants favor new apartments if their current dwelling is larger than the new one, and if they haven't lived in their current home for a long time. In contrast, owners prefer the new apartment to have a central location. Both groups consider rent, proximity to kin, and a senior-friendly bathroom as important for the new apartment, with rent being more important to tenants than to those who are currently owners. In both groups, we identified predictors that can be interpreted as barriers to environmental proactivity. The results add to the large body of literature on social inequality in old age.