The number of “silver renters” is set to treble to nearly one million over the next 20 years due to the difficulty older borrowers have getting a mortgage.
According to analysis by Generation rent, the number of private renter households in England headed by someone aged 65 or older could increase from 370,000 in 2015-16 to 995,000 by 2035-36.
Getting a mortgage beyond the age of 40 is more difficult as many lenders are unwilling to grant mortgages past the state retirement date, so these older renters face a lifetime of renting.
The government-commissioned English Housing Survey found that there are 1.1 million heads of household aged between 45 and 64.
Generation Rent predicts that only 167,000 of these will become home owners in the next 20 years.
David Adler, the Oxford academic who authored the report, said: “The idea of home ownership is still popular among those who are starting out in renting but the longer, or worse, someone’s renting experience has been, the more likely they are to favour reform of the rental sector over an escape to owner occupation.
“As the renter population ages, this preference, and demands for reform, will only increase.”
Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, said: “With most debates on housing focused on young adults, politicians risk neglecting the vast numbers of people who are already too old to get a mortgage and face a lifetime of renting. As they start retiring in greater numbers, the state will have to pick up the tab unless it makes some fundamental changes to the housing market.
“The answer is not further cuts to housing benefit, because that will only further immiserate people who have nowhere else to turn. Instead, we need years of investment in new homes to bring down rents and a transformation of the private rental market into a professional provider of long term homes. This means giving tenants protection from unfair evictions and putting a limit on rent rises.”
