Report shines a light on issues facing renters over-60

As you would have read here on Starts at 60, housing affordability for older Australians has become a real focus in recent weeks.

Although a lot of attention has been placed on millennials and buying a home, there has also been some discussion about housing issues for older Australians and those who aren’t home owners.

There is a growing number of older Australians who are renting, particularly those living on a single pension.

It’s an issue that has been highlighted in a new report released by consumer advocacy group Choice.

The report, released last week, has revealed the number of people renting is on the rise – and many are struggling to pay their rent and have repairs undertaken on the homes they live in.

While the wider facts of Choice’s The Australian Rental Market Report have been widely reported in the media, facts about the over-60 demographic haven’t been mentioned much at all.

According to the report, 60% of over-60s who rent live alone – the highest number of any demographic. This suggests there are a lot of single or widowed pensioners renting on their own.

Of those over-60s who rent, 58% have been renting for more than 10 years – more than any other age. It suggest a trend of older Australians who have been renting for a large part of their life, either because they can’t afford to own a house or don’t want to own a house.

The report found more than half of renters of all ages chose to rent because they couldn’t afford to buy a home of their own.

Those renting, especially those on incomes under $35,000 (pensioners included), also reported rental affordability as an issue.

According to the report, for renters with the lowest 40% of income virtually nothing is affordable. Low-income households such as pensioners are paying between 50 and 85% of their income in rent – even with Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

Those statistics are backed up by a report published by National Seniors Australia last month, which showed that without Commonwealth Rent Assistance 57.2% of people over the age of 75 would have been in “housing stress”.

But even with rent assistance, 26.5% of pensioners over the age of 75 experienced housing stress last year.

“Housing stress is commonly defined as being a situation where more than 30 per cent of income is spent on rent or mortgage payments,” National Seniors Australia stated.

“Those in housing stress have less income available to spend on other essential goods and services, such as food, utilities, transport and clothing.

“The proportion of people aged 75 years or over in housing stress in the major cities is broadly consistent with median market rents in these areas.”

But it would appear that when it comes to issues with living in rental properties, over-60s actually fair better than young renters.

While it could be because over-60s might be less likely to complain, they experienced fewer issues with their landlords or rental properties than their children or grandchildren would.

“Those aged 65 and over a more likely to say they live in a rental property that is in excellent condition, 39% compared to only 23% of those under 65,” a Choice spokesman said.

“83% have never experienced any disputes, compared to significantly lower 59% of those under 65.”

One of the big things the report highlighted was the number of renters who are living in houses that aren’t being maintained by landlords, with 8% of renters in Australia living in houses that needed urgent repairs.

Some of the things that needed addressing, according to the report, were issues such as pests, mould and doors and windows not opening or closing properly.

But it turns out having those issues addressed by landlords was also proving tricky for renters, including those over-60.

Just under a quarter of all renters didn’t receive a response to a request they made for repairs.

For those over-60, that figure was 17% – while 13% of older renters received a negative response when they asked their landlord for repairs.

Older renters are also less likely to face discrimination compared to other groups of renters, particularly millennials.

Only 20% of older renters claimed they had experienced discrimination while renting, compared to 55% of millennials.

However, 57% of renters with an income of less than $35,000 per year (including pensioners) claimed they had experienced discrimination – particularly over their income.

The rental report has received widespread coverage and commentary, and what it shows has alarmed some sectors of the community.

Choice CEO Alan Kirkland said it would be hard to imagine a product or service “this poor” in any other sector.

“With renting, consumers have to deal with major quality issues like mould or flooding and are systematically denied access to a timely remedy,” he said.

Meanwhile, consumer groups are calling for the government to step in and do something to address the issues facing renters.

“Policymakers need to consider ways to better protect tenants’ rights and ensure access to quality, stable and affordable housing for all,” the report states.

“This means looking at ways to improve security of tenure for renters, as well as to improve affordability and amenity within the private rental market itself. These should be priority issues for all Australian governments.”

Are you a renter? Do you have issues finding or affording a rental property?