Renting millennials face homeless crisis in retirement

Hundreds of thousands of people could be facing homelessness in their retirement in the coming decades due to the rising costs of renting.

A new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Housing and Care for Older People says that the rise in unaffordable rents for older people could cause a surge in pension poverty over the next 20 years.

Carried out by the Social Market Foundation, the research warns that more than 630,000 older people may struggle to stay in their homes by 2038 if rents continue to follow their current trajectory - especially since people typically see their income halve after retirement.

Those living in the private rented sector spend an average of 40 per cent of their earnings on rent, with the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People predicting this could increase to 80 per cent in retirement for the current ‘generation rent’.

Without a boost to social house building, increases in rent could see a sharp rise in homelessness among older people. The report predicts that 1.1 million low-cost rent homes will be needed to adequately house pensioners by the late 2040s – an average of 38,000 homes a year.

Lord Best, who chairs the panel, said: “We need action now to avoid sleepwalking into a situation where hundreds of thousands of older people will find themselves in insecure tenancies they cannot afford, fearing eviction and potentially even homelessness. The social and economic costs of this would be enormous. Housing benefit costs would skyrocket.

“We urgently need a national strategy for renting in later life. This must include a plan to build more low-cost rented homes, and a programme of investment in care and support to prevent a housing catastrophe for the pensioners of the future.”