Downsizing is a major consideration for Australian homeowners when they enter retirement. The current study gathered data from the members of National Seniors Australia on their reasons for downsizing, and asked about some policy measures that may encourage them to downsize if they haven’t yet done so. Many homeowners wish to keep living in the family home in retirement. We asked this group of people what discourages them from considering downsizing.

Overall, 83.7 per cent of the participants in the study were homeowners, either with or without a mortgage. For this report, homeowners are either:

• Movers – they had already downsized• Planners – they are planning to downsize• Stayers – they are not considering downsizing.