Thousands of millennials face the prospect of homelessness when they retire because they will not have been able to afford to buy a home and there is a shortage of suitable social housing for older people, a report has found.
The number of people still renting when they reach retirement age is set to more than treble from 450,000 today to over 1.5 million in 2046, an inquiry by a cross-party group of MPs forecasts.
Around half of these households will no longer be able to afford the rent they were able to manage before they retired, because pension income is significantly less, on average, than working-age income.
The report by the all-party parliamentary group on housing and care for older people said 630,000 households in the private rented sector will need lower-cost accommodation in less than 30 years.
To meet this demand, the government will need to ensure 21,000 properties suitable for older people’s physical and financial needs are built each year.
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Members of ‘generation rent’, as the younger generation is often known, are finding it far more difficult to get on the housing market than previous generations
PA
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Then chancellor George Osborne visits a Help to Buy housing development in Lewisham in 2014.
Osborne had announced the Help to Buy scheme in the 2013 budget as a means of helping first-time buyers on to the housing market
PA Archive/PA Images
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In February 2017, then communities and local government secretary Sajid Javid issued a government white paper on housing. Introducing it in the Commons, he stated ‘our housing market is broken’ and that ‘the idea of owning or renting a safe, secure place of your own is, for many, a distant dream’
PA
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Residents of Fitzroy Road in Primrose Hill have demonstrated how urban areas might be built up without using extra land. 12 homeowners along the street all agreed to extend their house upwards by 1 floor.
The government recently held a consultation on the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which, if approved, will support building above homes, shops and offices
Google Earth
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Social Bite, a charity in Scotland, is creating a small housing community for the homeless. Up to 20 people will be housed for 12-18 months, with the charity’s focus being on transitioning the residents into permanent housing and employment
AFP/Getty
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A homeless man was found dead yards from Parliament in February. His death was taken by many, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to be symbolic of the government’s poor record on housing.
PA
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Emergency homeless shelters in London had to be opened numerous times throughout the past winter to house those unable to find a room in an ordinary shelter or hostel
Getty
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Carillion, the UK’s second largest construction company, entered liquidation early this year. It held numerous government construction and maintenance contracts, for many of which the future is still uncertain
AFP/Getty
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Members of ‘generation rent’, as the younger generation is often known, are finding it far more difficult to get on the housing market than previous generations
PA
2/8
Then chancellor George Osborne visits a Help to Buy housing development in Lewisham in 2014.
Osborne had announced the Help to Buy scheme in the 2013 budget as a means of helping first-time buyers on to the housing market
PA Archive/PA Images
3/8
In February 2017, then communities and local government secretary Sajid Javid issued a government white paper on housing. Introducing it in the Commons, he stated ‘our housing market is broken’ and that ‘the idea of owning or renting a safe, secure place of your own is, for many, a distant dream’
PA
4/8
Residents of Fitzroy Road in Primrose Hill have demonstrated how urban areas might be built up without using extra land. 12 homeowners along the street all agreed to extend their house upwards by 1 floor.
The government recently held a consultation on the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which, if approved, will support building above homes, shops and offices
Google Earth
5/8
Social Bite, a charity in Scotland, is creating a small housing community for the homeless. Up to 20 people will be housed for 12-18 months, with the charity’s focus being on transitioning the residents into permanent housing and employment
AFP/Getty
6/8
A homeless man was found dead yards from Parliament in February. His death was taken by many, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to be symbolic of the government’s poor record on housing.
PA
7/8
Emergency homeless shelters in London had to be opened numerous times throughout the past winter to house those unable to find a room in an ordinary shelter or hostel
Getty
8/8
Carillion, the UK’s second largest construction company, entered liquidation early this year. It held numerous government construction and maintenance contracts, for many of which the future is still uncertain
AFP/Getty
“We see the likelihood of a significant shortfall in the available places within the current stock since, at present, few retirement schemes are being created,” said Lord Best, who chairs the group.
“The consequence of there being nowhere affordable for these households to go is bound to be homelessness for some and a move into temporary accommodation, at the state’s expense, for others,” the report stated.
It outlines multiple problems faced by older renters including a disproportionate number that are in substandard housing, difficulty installing necessary alterations such as handrails and, most significantly, unaffordable rents.
In order to eliminate the “horrors” of so many older home owners suffering the hazards and hardships of living in homes not fit for human habitation, the report recommends implementing a national strategy for rental housing for later life.
In addition to this, the next government spending review must allocate additional funding for social housing designed for older people, the report stated.
While this is an up-front cost it will ultimately save money on the housing benefit bill which is currently in excess of £20bn per year.
This will offer older people who are often in larger accommodation than they need, the option of downsizing to a more suitable property, delivering the additional benefit of freeing up bigger homes for younger families.
