An expansion of home equity loans and property tax breaks are needed to help baby boomers retire in their own homes, says a report issued by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based health and welfare think tank.
The center’s Senior Health and Housing Task Force issued the report Sunday. A retirement security panel created by the center is expected to echo these recommendations in a study scheduled for release June 9.
The task force, led by Henry Cisneros and Mel Martinez, former secretaries of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is calling for HUD to consider new products to assist borrowers in safely accessing home equity.
It is estimated that half of homeowners 65 and over have more than half of their assets in the equity they hold in their homes.
The task force said the ability of many baby boomers to retire in their own homes is being threatened by a savings shortage and a lack of low-income senior housing.
“Over the next 20 years, nearly 40 percent of individuals over the age of 62 are projected to have financial assets of $25,000 or less,” the group says. “Twenty percent of those over 62 will have $5,000 or less. For many, this level of savings will be woefully inadequate to cover the expenses of daily living, never mind finance long-term services and supports or the modifications necessary to make living independently at home safe and secure.”
As part of the solution, the task force called for the establishment of a new federally funded program to promote the construction of low-cost senior housing and help provide for the health care that would be needed to serve residents.
In addition, the group is seeking a substantial increase in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to aid in the building of new affordable homes for low-income seniors and the preservation of existing affordable homes.
Three years ago, 11.2 million extremely low-income renter households were competing for 4.3 million affordable and available rental units, a shortage of 6.9 million, according to the study.
The group also said a greater effort is needed by Medicare and other federal programs to retrofit homes and take other measures to reduce the financial burden on seniors who have suffered an injury related to a fall.