No place for older renters
The impact of the housing crisis on poverty is an area of growing public interest and understanding, but older people experiencing financial insecurity are often overlooked.
And with an ageing population, and an increasing amount of people renting as they approach later life, it’s important we understand the issues facing this group, writes Independent Age Policy Officer Beth Walters.
At Independent Age we are focused on ensuring that older people in financial hardship live in safe, secure, and suitable housing. As part of this, we want to better understand how the housing crisis affects low-income older renters.
More than one in three (37%) older private renters experience relative income poverty after housing costs. In 2023 we spoke to older private renters across England to learn more about their experiences.
The people in later life we spoke to shared with us their feeling of anxiety around rising rents and the process of moving house, the poor state of some of their homes, and fears of being evicted unexpectedly.
To build on this work, last month we published our briefing “No place for older renters”. This report looks at how the concentrations of older private and social renters in England have changed over time.
Using Census data from 2011 and 2021 we looked at these changes on a national and local level and identified areas that have seen major changes in numbers over time.
On a national level we saw the number of older private renters increase by 55%, whilst older homeowners increased by 25% and the number of socially renting older households fell by 2%.
On a local level only two local authorities, Westminster and Barking and Dagenham, saw a decrease in their overall older household population between 2011 and 2021.
Privately renting
The results of our analysis showed that 252 of the262 local authorities analysed saw the absolute number of older privately renting households increase.
All ten local authorities where numbers of older private renters decrease were all in Greater London.
When we looked at the 20 areas with the highest proportion of privately renting older households, all bar one were either coastal or within Greater London
Many of these older renter hot spots are also typically more income deprived areas. For example, Blackpool has the highest proportions of older private renters, and is also among the top fifth most income deprived areas in England.
We also looked at how populations had changed over time. Of the top 20 areas that saw the largest increase in older privately renting households, half were coastal and all others were either northern towns or in Greater London.
Again, these areas are often areas of higher income deprivation. Of the areas that saw the largest decreases in older renters, 14 were in Greater London.
Inequalities and challenges
Our research shows that the “suburbanisation of poverty”, the movement of low-income groups to areas with worse access to key public or voluntary services, impacts older renters.
It is likely driven by social housing shortages and rising private rents.
Unlike homeowners, renters' choices of where to live are heavily influenced by local and national housing markets.
The housing crisis has led to a concentration of older renters in more income deprived areas.
These areas are more likely to have more strained local services and public transport, affecting older people’s ability to access good healthcare and remain independent.
This trend could be a contributing factor why older privately renting households (47%) are in worse health than older homeowner households (41%).
This forced movement away from communities they know can also result in renters moving to areas less familiar to them away from their support networks, which increases their risk of isolation and loneliness.
Addressing these issues requires investment across housing sectors.
This includes:
- Ensuring that Local Housing Allowance, which are used to calculate Housing Benefit for tenants renting from private landlords, is uprated annually so renters of all ages can afford their rent
- Passing the Renters (Reform) Bill including the banning of no fault Section 21 evictions, to give private renters more protections
- Increasing the amount of social housing in both urban and rural areas so that eligible older private renters have the option to move into a more affordable and secure home.
For more information on this work, contact [email protected]
Links to the report and interactive maps:
- No place for older renters: How the geography of older private and social renters has changed
- Percentage of older households living in the private rented sector in 2021 by lower-tier authorities in England
- Change in the rate of older households living in the PRS between 2011 and 2021 by lower-tier authorities in England
- Percentage of older households living in social housing in 2021 by lower-tier authorities in England
- Change in the rate of older households living in social housing between 2011 and 2021 by lower-tier authorities in England
Read more in our State of Ageing report
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