Britain's housing crisis is now devastating its oldest generations, with charities reporting a dramatic increase in people over 60 seeking help for homelessness.
A Growing Crisis Among the Elderly
Leading housing charities have witnessed a disturbing trend, with more pensioners developing serious health problems after being forced to sleep in cars for months or on camp beds in emergency shelters. Some are seeking support while battling illnesses like cancer.
Marie Dennehy, a senior service manager at St Mungo’s, confirmed a clear rise in over-65s, often with complex health needs, requiring emergency housing support over the past two years. "We’ve got a guy in the service at the moment who’s 87 – it’s madness," she said. "We never used to see the number of pensioners we’re seeing now."
She explained that council cuts and the severe shortage of social housing mean single homeless applicants, even the elderly, are often not prioritised. An 87-year-old in good health might not be deemed a 'priority need', despite being far more vulnerable than a younger person.
From Stable Housing to Sleeping in Cars
Dan Holland from the Salvation Army’s homelessness services team stated that 10% of residents in their accommodation are over 55. He linked the crisis to the decline of home ownership and frozen housing benefits. "Not as many people now have a mortgage that they’ve paid off... Lots more people are renting, relying on housing benefit which has been frozen, so... eventually they will end up experiencing homelessness," he warned.
This was the reality for Raymond, 63, who slept in his car for seven weeks after his marriage broke down. After being repeatedly told he was not a priority by the council, his health deteriorated. "My legs were bad, they were really swelling up... My doctor put me on folate tablets because I couldn’t afford to eat properly," he recounted.
Holland raised an even graver concern: services may soon need to provide palliative care for homeless people, as more spend their final months in unstable accommodation.
Renting into Retirement with No Security
Research from Crisis underscores the scale of the problem. It found one in five older people cannot retire due to housing costs, while homelessness among older people in England has soared by more than 50% in five years. The number of over-55s in temporary accommodation has jumped 35% since March 2022.
Experts blame an entrenched housing crisis that pushes people to rent into later life, leaving them exposed to eviction and unaffordable rent hikes. Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: "Soaring rents were locking people into renting for decades, forcing older people to live in homes unsuitable for their needs and damaging to their health."
Edith Gomes Munda, 61, from Huntingdon, embodies this anxiety. Forced to move twice recently due to landlords selling up and rising rents, she fears the future. "I’m now 61 and I will get my pension soon but I don’t know if it will cover the rent... With the rent increases, you feel like you have to constantly move, you can’t really settle down," she said.
She has abandoned hope of buying a home and faces long social housing waiting lists. Lisabel Miles, housing policy manager at Age UK, stressed that even a reformed private rental sector fails older people. "There’s going to be a lot of older renters emerging into retirement with real concerns about where they can go," she said.
With the government's long-term housing strategy delayed until next March, charities and experts are urging immediate action to prioritise the housing needs of the UK's ageing population.
