Struggle to pay for basics such as buying food or heating amid cost of living crisis

RENTERS older than 55-years-old are struggling to afford basic living costs such as buying food or heating their homes, research shows.

Two-fifths of the age group are regularly running out of cash to pay for items such as paying for much-needed clothes, a study has found.

The report highlights a “ticking time bomb” of elderly people in privately renting hit by high costs in the coming years.

Labour’s Angela Rayner said renters of all ages have never been so exposed and “desperate for action” amid a housing crisis.

Those who are pre-retirement renters – aged 55-64 – have risen quicker than any other group with a huge increase of people living in homes they can’t afford.

Figures show half of older private renters are worried about getting into debt to cover their rent. One in four have been been asked to leave their home in the past five years.

A new report reveals more than 850,000 people are living in expensive but insecure rented homes, polling by the National Housing Federation shows.

Just under half, 48 per cent, are worried about getting into debt due to housing and other living costs hitting their budget.

A third of those aged 55-plus who privately rent see less of their family and friends as they are concerned about the costs of seeing loved ones.

And half of private renters who are of pension age – 65-plus – sit in the lowest income bracket in England and have just £11,341 a year to live on after tax.

Kate Henderson, Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation, said: “The health of older private renters is at risk as hundreds of thousands struggle to buy food and heat their homes, and when even seeing friends and family is too expensive this leads to loneliness and isolation.

“More worrying still, the research indicates that an already critical situation is on the verge of getting much worse, as a huge number of middle-aged private renters approach retirement with no affordable housing options available to them.”

Shadow Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “At the height of a cost-of-living crisis, renters of all ages have never been so exposed and desperately in need of action to tackle the housing emergency. 

“On the Tories’ watch, rents and mortgages are soaring, fewer people are able to buy their own home and over a million people are stuck on social housing waiting lists. 

“The government’s indefinite delay to the ban on no-fault evictions they promised comes at a heavy price for renters who have been let down by this government for far too long already.”