This research examined the housing aspirations of older Australians (over the age of 55) to create an evidence-base for the policy innovation needed to deliver the housing and housing assistance required to meet their diverse aspirations.

The vast majority of older Australian respondents from across the country (over 90%) are in dwellings that meet their current housing needs, and 70 per cent reported their current housing meets their longer-term aspirations.

Older Australian home owners aspire to remain in home ownership, live in three-bedroom separate dwellings, in the middle to outer suburbs of a capital city or outside the metropolitan area in small regional towns or large regional cities. Private renters also aspired to achieve home ownership, live in separate dwellings or apartments with either three or two bedrooms. Public or community housing tenants—to a lesser degree than other tenures—aspired to be home owners or to remain in their current tenure, with two or three bedrooms, and aspire to live in the middle and outer suburbs with non-metropolitan locations considered less ideal than inner city suburbs.

Although the housing aspiration gap for older Australians is not large, policy responses are required to narrow the gap for low-income private renters in particular include housing assistance to improve security of tenure and facilitate ageing in place; continued reform of the private rental sector to deliver a long-term, secure housing option; delivering low cost, low deposit ownership products; and better matching of new housing supply to aspirations, especially in the private rental sector, to meet the demand for two and three-bedroom homes.