Nearly 40 per cent of people said they would feel safer knowing their parents were travelling to the upstairs of their home in a home lift rather than a stairlift according to a new study.
Researchers polled 2,000 adults aged 40 or over and all the people asked were in contact with at least one parent that lives independently at home.
Commissioned by Stiltz Lifts, the study shows the home lift market is catching up with stairlifts with popularity increasing as 788 of respondents revealed that they preferred their mother or father to use a partially enclosed home lift instead of a exposed stairlift. Eighteen per cent (360) did not believe their parent or parents would be any safer in a home lift, with 42% not sure.
The research carried out by onepoll.com showed 69 per cent agreed that their parent’s desire for independence was the most important thing to them with 13% stating they wanted to stay at home but make home modifications to make it more accessible.
However, moving to a care home as they are not able to live independently anymore (0.95%) or move into the family home (2%) were clearly not desirable options. For 2% of those polled said their parents would like to move to a care home but could not afford it.
Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker estate agency, revealed it had 117 properties on its books with reference of a ‘lift’. She said some homebuyers wanted a lift because of disability issues, while others were looking it as a way of ‘future-proofing’ their home for use in later life.