Retirees turn to flatting as rent squeeze tightens
Money is tight for Audine Robson – she is in her 70s, and shares a large Auckland home with 11 other pensioners.
There may not be the loud music, dirty bathrooms, or budget meals that a younger generation of flatters have to contend with but it’s quite a change from living independently.
‘‘I think with women in particular we’ve been used to being queen of our own kitchen, if not our own home. So there’s adjustments to be made,’’ says Robson. She lives at Abbeyfield – a charity that provides housing and support for people aged over 55. This is a way of life more retirees may have to consider.
Experts from the Ageing Well National Science Challenge are warning of a looming crisis in elderly housing. They predict that, under current policy, in 20 years more than half of those turning 65 will be renting.
Dr Kay Saville-Smith, a principal investigator with the challenge, says two decades ago, more than 80 per cent of people aged 65-89 owned a home. By 2013, that had dropped to 60 per cent.
‘‘In the past we knew what would happen to older people.
‘‘They would be homeowners and they would be mortgage free and their living standard was really quite high given their low incomes,’’ she says.
‘‘But the future is going to be very, very different.’’
Saville-Smith says elderly renters are particularly vulnerable to tenancies being terminated, and rent hikes.
‘‘Older people can’t increase their incomes very easily, if at all, so they’re some of the people that get really squeezed in an overheated market.’’
She is also concerned about their welfare.
Her researchers have heard stories of pensioners sitting in the dark because they are unable to reach the lightbulb to change it.
Some are too scared of upsetting the landlord to ask for things to be fixed if they break.
They are also more likely to be in a damp, cold home.
And those renting have worse health. Rates of illnesses including asthma, anxiety and depression are twice as likely among elderly renters.
‘‘If we don’t change things, it’s a very bad outlook, which will mean higher degrees of insecurity … increasingly dilapidated housing ... and a lot more elderly people literally homeless,’’ says Saville-Smith.
Superannuation at current levels won’t be enough, she says.
‘‘It’s designed to give older people a good standard of living but it assumes they’re not going to be paying mortgages and not going to be paying rent.’’
John Hurrell, 74, volunteers with the Salvation Army, packing food parcels. He is seeing many people’s savings run out in their mid-70s – and he is worried he will be one of them.
After losing his business and his home in the global financial crisis, he is now renting.
‘‘Because of health reasons I’ve had to stop working. So I’m faced now with trying to live on super in a rental market that’s actually going up in terms of cost,’’ he says. He believes the only way to ensure the elderly are properly looked after is for the Government to bring back pensioner housing.
‘‘This tsunami is just starting. ‘‘I’m the beginning of the baby boomers and there’s a big crowd behind me,’’ he says.
Saville-Smith is heartened that the Government is moving to regulate the rental market but she wants to see more focus on supporting the elderly. She would like to see the building industry incentivised to construct smaller homes and she thinks Abbeyfield’s shared housing model could be more widespread.
The Abbeyfield flatmates think many more elderly people could benefit from living like them, not just financially, but socially too. Norma Gordon-Kerr has just moved in after renting alone. ‘‘My health went downhill and I got quite lonely,’’ she says.
Over lunch made by the inhouse cook, she says she feels right at home. ‘‘I know I’m amongst friends now and I really enjoy it.’’ – Aotearoa Science Agency