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The number of older renters in the private renting sector has soared over the past decade, new data show.
Government figures show that 225,000 more people, aged between 55 to 64, have turned towards private renting in the past ten years.
Since 2011, the number of older renters in the private renting market has grown by 70 per cent, with nearly 867,000 households headed by people aged over 55 living in private renting, according to the National Housing Federation.
As a result, four in 10 renters are now aged 45 or over, personal finance company Credit Karma said.
While 71 per cent of old-age renters said they turned to private renting because they can’t afford to buy a home, 21 per cent preferred the flexibility that came with renting.
One such renter is 70-year-old Carole Railton, who sold her home of 30 years and decided to rent a flat in central London due to her health problems. The semi-retired behaviourist told i that while renting was a “good alternative” she does worry about the cost of her flat in the future.
Carole, who is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, said: “I worked out my finances for the next ten years, but everything has gone up. Council tax, food, bills and now maybe even my rent. My contract says my rent can increase by up to 8 per cent. It’s an issue. I also worry about the insecurity of having to move if I have to.
“I had to let my house go quite cheaply, because of my health. Before I went into hospital in August to get my pace-maker installed, I knew I needed to sell my home and slim down. I gave my furniture away as I was moving into a furnished flat, so if I need to move again, it has to be somewhere with furniture.”
Further research from the National Housing Federation found that 78 per cent of older private renters who work worry that they will not be able to meet increasing rent prices. Two in five older renters (42 per cent) already struggle to meet the cost of either bills or essentials, or both.
Older renters are also worried about the stability of their housing situation. According to homeless charity Shelter, a renter over the age of 55 was served a no-fault eviction at a rate equivalent to every 16 minutes over the past three years in England.
The same research found that 28 per cent of renters over 55 lived in fear of being evicted, while 25 per cent said the fear of losing their home impacted their physical or mental health.
Abolishing Section 21, which can be used by landlords to evict tenants, will help older renters living in private renting housing in England, Age UK said.
Currently, housing laws give landlords the right to evict assured shorthold tenants at short notice, regardless of whether they have done anything wrong. Landlords can evict a tenant with only two months’ short notice, after six months tenancy or at the end of any longer fixed term.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, told i: “For decades, successive governments have failed to build enough genuinely affordable social homes, leaving a growing number of older people trapped at the mercy of our broken private renting system.
“We regularly hear from older renters who have worked for decades in search of safety and security in later life but are now being condemned to live out their senior years paying over the odds for cramped, damp, or run-down properties. Others have been left desperately scrambling after their landlord issues a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice, giving them just two months to find a new home.
“The Government cannot continue to fail older renters. They must pass a watertight Renters (Reform) Bill without caveats or loopholes, which finally relegates Section 21 evictions to the scrap heap of history. But ultimately, the only way to provide older people with real security is to build a new generation of social homes with rents tied to local incomes.”
