Almost nine in 10 older Australians say they want to stay in their homes as they age. But that is a dream for almost three-quarters of renters.
A new report released by Anglicare, Ageing in Place: Home and Housing for Australia’s Older Renters, explores how Australians want to age and the barriers they face in staying at home, particularly for renters.
The survey found that 72 per cent of renters cited cost as the biggest barrier to ageing at home.
And those costs are unlikely to improve given that the residential vacancy rate in Australia dropped to just 9 per cent nationwide in August, its lowest level in more than 16 years, as rental supply dwindled amid soaring demand.
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The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Australia is $401. A single age pensioner receives $1026.50 per fortnight plus a maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance of $151.60 per fortnight. That leaves $376 per fortnight for all other living costs.
The Anglicare report was based on a review of literature relating to renting and ageing in Australia and internationally, followed by a national survey of 500 Australians over the age of 50.
The survey found that 87 per cent of people, whether owners or renters, want to remain at home as they get older. While the cost involved was a barrier for just 15 per cent of homeowners, that figure jumped to 72 per cent for renters.
Anglicare says the structure and funding of Australia’s aged care system assumes that people own their home or live in secure and affordable rental housing, while aged care itself is becoming more focused on providing that care in the home.
Read: Renting pensioners left penniless. Will the government help?
Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers says everyone should be able to live life to the fullest as they get older.
“For most people, that means ageing in their own home,” she says. “But the housing crisis is locking more and more Australians out of that dream.”
Anglicare wants all levels of government to make changes that help people age at home.
“We need reforms to aged care and home care so that renters can make changes to their homes, get the support they need, and stay independent for longer,” Ms Chambers says.
“We’re calling for a new model of leasing that offers longer-term security for older people and protects them from unfair rent increases. And we need a big boost to social housing.”
Read: Uncovering the truth about ageing in Australia
Without the right housing, the report says, it is much harder for older people who rent to age in place, and yet “our research also shows that this is what most Australians want”.
“Older people overwhelmingly told us that they want to age in their own home as long as possible, regardless of whether they are renters or owners.”
Guardian Australia reports that most rental homes do not meet basic accessibility requirements for older renters.
“Only 46 per cent of those renters surveyed said their home would suit an older person with limited mobility, compared to over 70 per cent of those who owned their own home.”
And gaining permission to make modifications was often difficult and expensive.
Wendy Morris, 75, lives in “a tiny rented granny flat in the Perth Hills”. She told the Guardian that the private rental system was broken.
“The scariest thing is insecurity and unaffordability, particularly for older women …,” she said. “It uproots you from your community. It’s also very expensive to shift. It’s the financial stress, and the mental health issues that come along with that.”
Read the full Anglicare Australia report here.
Are you an older renter? Do you have concerns about the challenges of staying at home as you age? Why not share your experience and thoughts in the comments section below?
Even if you downsized and now own a smaller property in the area you want to live, the failure of the P to keep up with skyrocketing Council rates, insurances, utility and maintenance costs is pushing this reality back into being a dream. The scariest thing is insecurity and unaffordability, particularly for older women …,” she said. “It uproots you from your community. It’s also very expensive to shift. It’s the financial stress, and the mental health issues that come along with that.”
Even if you downsized and now own a smaller property in the area you want to live, the failure of the AP to keep up with skyrocketing Council rates, insurances, utility and maintenance costs is pushing this reality back into being a dream.
Yes, the scariest thing is insecurity and unaffordability, but it is ridiculous to say this is particular to older women. Insecurity and unaffordability hit everyone at one age point or another. Mails have no more opportunity to earn money than their female counterparts. Let’s stop trying to divide the seniors cohort and play one group off against another.
Insecurity and unaffordability uproots all seniors at some point from their community. Shifting is expensive no matter what your gender. The financial stress, and the mental health issues that come along with that affect both women and men .
Agree its not gender issue!
People must change the way they think about rental property. If you rent, the place you rent is NOT your home, you do not own it any more than you own a hotel room; it is simply where you live. Therefore, any emotional attachment to it is misplaced. There are advantages to renting: you don’t pay maintenance costs, water and sewage or council rates, you don’t have to buy or maintain appliances such as ovens, stoves or water heaters, in some cases you don’t have to buy or replace basic furniture, and you may be living in an area you could not afford to buy in, to name just some.
Of course, there is a downside to renting at the same time: you can be asked to vacate the premises at any time, the rent can and does increase over time, and the owner may not be as proactive as they might over maintenance and repairs. The owner also has no responsibility to adapt the dwelling to the changing needs of the tenant.
It is the local governments’ responsibility to provide any social housing necessary for their area, not the state or federal government. Local councils have made money from selling social housing assets in prime locations over time but have neither replaced the sold stock nor kept up with new and increasing demand (look up what happened with social housing and Sydney City Council who sold hgousing in The Rocks for development). But again, social housing does not belong to the tenant. They have no right to demand as some do, they remain in place even when those original needs have long gone e.g. single residents in housing that was designed for families, people in jobs with the latest mobile phone and updated car in the driveway still in property designed to accommodate those unable to work for any number of reasons.
In my opinion, older people in social housing with more than one bedroom should be automatically moved to a smaller dwelling freeing up the larger houses for families who need them now. Adult children over say 25 years (i.e. after a university education or further training) should also be moved on.
The local councils should be building smaller single/couple dwellings for these people. And to their credit, some do at least try but are thwarted by the NIMBY attitudes of existing local residents or by the very people who would be living in the units because it may not be in their preferred area. Too bad! Social housing, like other forms of welfare such as jobseeker or yes even the age pension, is meant to be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice.