Category: Older Private Sector Tenants Programme

selective licensing

Selective Licensing – Protecting Older Private Renters

John McGeachyAge-friendly London

“Selective licensing can also help tenants feel more secure in their homes by improving landlord practice via license conditions that focus on good landlord practice. Such practices include, proper deposit management, full tenancy agreements and restrictions on who can and can’t collect the rent.”

With the number of older private renters in London set to double over the next two decades, action must be taken to ensure the private rented sector is as Age-friendly as possible. Age UK London’s Campaigns Officer John McGeachy explains how selective licensing schemes could help to achieve this.

Rental Housing For An Ageing Population

Rental Housing for an Ageing Population

George HarveyHousing

“The first thing to state is that it is pleasing to see the concerns of older private renters taken seriously. For too long there has been an assumption that “generation rent” refers only to younger renters making their first steps onto the property ladder. In reality, the number of older private renters is growing steeply, with the number of households in the private rented sector headed by someone aged over 64 expected to treble over the next 25 to 30 years.”

The APPG on Housing and Care for Older People has released a new report titled “Rental Housing for an Ageing Population”. We take a leaf through the findings, particularly how the recommendations match up to our own research into the experiences of older private renters.

Housing

Decent and Accessible Housing for London

George HarveyCare

The Decent and Accessible Homes for Older People report aimed to understand the detrimental impact of poor housing on older people’s physical, mental and social wellbeing. As a result of this inquiry, the APPG for Ageing and Older People have made 13 recommendations for change, including the impact of poor quality, inaccessible housing on health, issues in supported housing and the private rented sector, as well as the importance of home improvement agencies.

In this week’s blog we take a look through the findings of the “Decent and Accessible Homes for Older People” report and see how the recommendations provided can help London to become an Age-friendly City.

adaptations

Aids and Adaptations for Accessible Homes

Yehia NasrAccessibility

“Evidence shows that installing adaptations and improvements to homes can be of huge benefit to our health and wellbeing as we age. We often talk about the need to deliver home adaptations. Evidence shows that living in a suitable, accessible home is crucial to a good later life, and home adaptations can play a big part if done well. I think it’s important to get other people’s perspective, though, beyond formal research and reports. Making changes to our homes is something very personal to many people.”

Yehia Nasr of the Centre for Ageing Better went looking for some personal perspectives to better understand just how a simple home adaptation can help people in later life remain healthy, active and able to do the things they want to.

Three-year tenancies

Discussing the Three-Year Tenancies Model

Age UK LondonHousing

“Though the typical discussion of the rental market has concentrated upon the difficulties faced by younger renters, our research over the last two years has revealed that many of these issues are faced by the older generation too. In fact, these problems frequently have an especially large impact upon the wellbeing of older people – particularly in terms of health and social care, as greater emphasis is being placed on people managing conditions at home.”

Age UK London reacts to news of the government’s new rent commitment, which will see the implementation of a new three-year tenancies model.

private renters

Potential Progress for Private Renters

George HarveyHousing

This week saw two positive developments for the rights of private renters across the country. First, on 2nd July, Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP proposed the introduction of a minimum 3-year tenancy term, with a 6-month break clause, to provide more security of tenure of private renters. In addition, yesterday saw the London Assembly agree a motion calling on the Mayor to back the campaign to abolish Section 21 – the clause of the Housing Act 1998, that allows private landlords to evict tenants without any reason – and to lobby the Government for a change in the law.

So, why are these changes important, what would they mean for older private renters, and do they go far enough? Let’s investigate…

Private Rented Sector

Age and the Private Rented Sector

George HarveyCampaigns

“The Home Improvements report is a timely intervention, which showcases the challenges that face “the Millennial Generation” in the present day and the years to come. It also dovetails nicely with our own report Living in Fear: Experiences of Older Private Renters in London, which performed a similar investigation into the difficulties facing older Londoners that rent privately.

If it is indeed true that a third of Millennials face renting for their entire lives, then our findings suggest that large scale changes need to be made in order to meet these tenants’ needs as they grow older. This is especially urgent, considering that The number of private-renting households for those aged 45-64 has more than doubled in the last ten years and recent estimates suggest that the number of private-renters in London aged 65 and over could double between 2014 and 2039.”

This week, a report from the Resolution Foundation has found that up to a third of young people face living in private rented accommodation for all of their lives. We offer our knowledge of the private rented sector, the affect it has upon many older tenants and the changes that need to be made to meet the needs of present and future older tenants.

Living in Fear – Older Private Renters in London

George HarveyEvents

Over the last eighteen months, Age UK London has been investigating the experiences of older private renters in London as part of our Older Private Sector Tenants Programme. Funded by the Nationwide Foundation, the research collated the views of older Londoners across a series of focus groups and individual interviews to gain a broad insight into the experiences of older renters in the capital. This information formed the basis of our brand new research report: “Living in Fear – Experiences of Older Private Renters in London”.

With the report completed, Age UK London hosted a launch event to reveal our findings at the Coin Street Conference Centre on the South Bank, find out all about the event…

A Whole Host of Events!

George HarveyAge UK London Blog

It’s been a busy year so far here at Age UK London, but we’re showing no signs of stopping as we head into the winter months! With that in mind, we thought it’d be a good idea to run through some of the events we have coming up in the run up to the new year… Take a look and see how you could get involved!

Marks out of Tenancy logo

Marks Out Of Tenancy – Aiding the Private Rental Sector

Tom DickinsonHousing

“There are various causes attributed to the growing number of older people joining the renting masses; an increase in the divorce rate, downsizing to smaller properties where paying rent might be preferential to another mortgage, or never getting onto the property ladder in the first place – whatever the reason, we think all renters deserve to have accommodation that is of decent quality and relatively stress-free.”

One in every twelve private rental tenants is an older person. Marks Out Of Tenancy is a review website to help private renters make informed choices.