Britain could be facing a downsizing boom, with almost half its pensioners across the country considering moving to a smaller home – providing a much-needed boost to the UK's chronic housing shortage.

Figures from McCarthy & Stone’s annual Retirement Confidence Index (RCI), which surveyed 3,000 UK adults aged 65 and over, reveal that 38pc of the age group would consider downsizing now, with an additional 10pc encouraged to move with a stamp duty exemption, equalling 48pc in total, representative of 5.7 million British pensioners.

And this number is only set to increase as the UK’s population ages rapidly. Based on population projections for the age group, figures for elderly movers is set to almost double to 11.1 million by 2036, McCarthy & Stone said.