According to Peter Girling, chairman of Girlings Retirement Rentals, the situation which will worsen unless more is done.
The firm’s research indicates that demand is particularly high in London and in coastal towns in the south of England that have always been retirement hotspots such Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Poole and Brighton.
‘We have thousands of new enquiries each year from people attracted by the affordability of renting and the availability of assured lifetime tenancies. However, there are simply not enough retirement properties to meet this demand, particularly in popular locations like London,’ said Girling.
He supports the Campaign for Housing in Later Life launched last year by the Home Builders Federation’s, (HBF). As part of the campaign, think tank Demos published a report called Top of the Ladder which highlighted the issue and showed that 3.5 million people over 60 in the UK are interested in retirement housing.
But it is estimated that there are only 506,000 retirement units of which 106,000 are available for home ownership and 400,000 available for rent and just 1% of the population lives in retirement housing.
The campaign calls for commitment from local councils to respond to demographic changes and recognise the needs of older people when deciding future housing policy. It seeks to raise the profile of the benefits people can gain by living in appropriate retirement accommodation in later life, including having a better standard of living and a friendly community which can help combat loneliness.
‘More needs to be done by the government this year to help to rectify this problem and make building retirement properties attractive for developers and local councils, said Girling.
One pensioner who has benefitted is 67 year old David Hughes who recently moved into a Girlings property having decided to rent after being priced out of the property market in Bromley.
He explained that renting a retirement property proved an attractive and viable financial option for him as his monthly rent covers the property maintenance there are no additional service charges to pay.
‘I have stayed in my home town where I couldn’t afford to buy and I have peace of mind I can remain here for a long time. I have the best of all worlds, I am close to family and friends and I don’t have all the stress that comes with owning a property,’ he added.
