Why housing affordability could be the biggest issue facing seniors
Barely a day passes without a story on this country’s real estate crisis, which has seen a generation of Australians almost priced out of the market. But younger Aussies aren’t the only ones copping the brunt of the housing affordability crisis.
As rental prices continue to rise, thousands of seniors are struggling to make ends meet, making housing security a real problem in the imminent future.
Jeff Fiedler, national development manager at Housing For The Aged Action Group (HAAG), told Fairfax Media, “The (private rental market) is fundamentally expensive and not adapted for people as they age. It can become an absolute death trap for an older person once they reach retirement, and they become reliant on an age pension.”
With community housing waiting lists getting longer there’s been a huge spike in the number of senior Australians renting, which can be prohibitive on a fixed income.
Mr Fiedler adds, “The average rent for a one-bedroom flat in Melbourne… would take more than 65 per cent of an aged person’s pension. This means that people are going without essentials such as food, and having trouble paying bills.
“They will often, as a result, suffer ill health.”
Recent research from Victoria’s Swinburne University of Technology found that the number of renters over the age of 50 is expected to rise to 600,000 by 2030 and 830,000 by 2050, suggesting that housing affordability, for Australians of all ages, is a problem the government needs to look at moving into the future.