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Sydney Morning Herald
No choice but to rent for aged

By Adele Horin
December 1, 2005

INCREASING numbers of people are finding it hard to buy a house and may end up as renters in their old age, the report Australia's Welfare 2005 reveals.

It shows even moderate income earners may be leaving it too late as housing costs outstrip rises in income over time.

The report, produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, says demand for affordable housing has risen at the same time as public housing stock has declined.

At the same time, the growth in new private rental accommodation has occurred in the high-rent end of the market.

A co-author of the report, David Wilson, the head of the housing assistance unit at the institute, said it was likely more people of pension age would end up as renters, contrary to the present high rates of home ownership among the elderly.

"We have a subclass of young people who are homeless now," he said, "but in future homelessness may be transferred to the old-age group."

Mr Wilson said increased divorce, more people remaining single, an ageing population and declining home ownership rates among 25- to 34-year-olds, as well as high housing prices, would contribute to the rise in the number of lifelong renters.

"There's a need to look at more flexible options, and consider overseas practices such as part-purchase arrangements that enable people to buy 25 per cent of a house," he said.

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