The UK’s housing crisis must be addressed in ways that meet the needs of older people, according to multiple speakers at the International Longevity Centre (ILC) Future of Ageing conference in London.

Speaking at the conference, University of York Centre for Housing Policy, Professor Becky Tunstall, reflected on a generation’s worth of politicians’ largely unmet promises on housing, urging policymakers to focus on ensuring existing housing was fit for purpose, as well as building new, energy efficient homes.

She said policymakers needed to acknowledge the needs of “older people who don’t have the money to maintain their home, or have mobility problems, or have too much or too little space, or are ill, or lonely”.

All these factors could lead to economic and other difficulties for those people and their families, and to unnecessary additional strain on the NHS and social care systems.

Tunstall also pointed out that the number of people aged 65 and over who rent homes from private landlords was continuing to grow, exposing some of this group to problems including insecurity of tenure, health risks linked to mould or damp; and rents or other costs rising more quickly than their incomes.

Another speaker, Shelter director of services, Judith Banjoko, said its research shows that 69 per cent of private renters aged 55 and over are struggling to pay their rent.

In some cases this has resulted in older people losing their homes: Banjoko highlighted a 51 per cent increase in people aged 55 and over applying for homelessness assistance from local authorities, reaching a total of more than 50,000 applications in 2023/2024.

In other cases the trap of ever-rising housing costs was preventing some older people from retiring: “Some older people living in the private rented sector cannot afford to retire.”

In his keynote speech to the conference, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, also stressed the importance of housing in helping to improve life for all the residents of the region, saying that improving housing will be “the foundation” of his administration’s plans to regenerate parts of the region and strengthen communities.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government head of architecture and urban design, Sarah Allan, also told conference delegates that her department is “reviewing its guidance in terms of thinking about the needs of older people”.

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