Rent or food? How rent assistance is failing older Australians

Every week many of these will be pushed to the brink of homelessness as they have to make the difficult choice between paying rent, buying food or medications or putting on the heating or lights.

According to new figures released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) the number of older households (aged over 75 years) still in rental stress after receiving CRA, has increased from 40,562 in 2019 to 45,199 in 2020 - an 11 per cent increase.

All states showed an increase in the number of over 75s in rental stress. NSW increased from 13,936 to 15,333, Victoria from 8563 to 9509, Queensland from 11,373 to 12,921, WA from 3245 to 3582, Tasmania from 823 to 940, ACT from 248 to 283 and Northern Territory from 138 to 150.

CRA is an income supplement payable to eligible people who rent in the private rental market or community housing and are receiving certain government benefits. The amount of CRA is based on rent paid and personal circumstances, with the maximum payment for a single person being $70.40. CRA is indexed against the Consumer Price Index.

"No Australian should be forced to choose between food and rent," said Kate Colvin, Acting chief executive of the Council to Homeless Persons. "The Federal Government needs to increase CRA to give low-income renters more help to meet the high and growing cost of rents.

"Everyone needs a home, and Commonwealth Rent Assistance is intended to make private rentals affordable.

"But the high cost of rent in capital cities, and skyrocketing rents across regional Australia, mean older Australians on low incomes are being left behind."

Ms Colvin said CPI increases to CRA had been dwarfed by rent increases.

The 2021 annual Rental Affordability Snapshop by Anglicare showed only 0.5 per cent of properties across Australia were affordable for a single person on the age pension, rising to three per cent for a couple, based on a survey of 74,266 rentals over a weekend in March.

Of 25,000 rental listings across Greater Sydney and the Illawarra only 26 were affordable for single age pensioners.

The AIHW data also reveals it is harder for people struggling in the rental market to access social housing, with the proportion of social housing households falling from 4.6 per cent in 2014 to 4.2 per cent in 2020.

"More social housing is needed to create options for people struggling to afford housing. We are calling on the Federal Government to invest more into social housing, alongside the states, so we reverse the decline in social housing," said Ms Colvin.

However, seniors suffering housing stress is not a new issue. A report in 2019 by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Insitute showed a growing level of housing stress among renters as well as mortgage debt among older home owners.

The report showed average mortgage debt for older Australians had grown 600 percent over the last 30 years, with nearly half of all homeowners aged between 55 and 64 still paying off a mortgage; and with the growth in mortgage debt outstripping both house price and income growth among older mortgagors.

The report said modelling predicted an increasingly tenure-polarised seniors population with outright ownership an important but weaker pillar supporting living standards in old age.

The combination of tenure change and demographic change was expected to increase CRA eligibility among seniors aged 55 years and over, seeing it grow from 414,000 in 2016 to 664,000 in 2031, an increase of 60 per cent.

The population of seniors was expected to increase by a much lower 35 per cent, so a growing dependence on CRA was anticipated with the Australian Government's CRA budget cost predicted to increase steeply, from $972 million in 2016, to $1.55 billion in 2031 (at constant 2016 prices).

Commenting on the AHURI report, Council on the Ageing (COTA) Chief Executive, Ian Yates, said spiralling housing costs, lack of suitable housing options and under-investment in appropriate and affordable housing was causing financial insecurity and impacting on the mental health of an increasing number of older Australians.

"For older people a secure home can be the difference between good health and decline in health which is rarely factored into the housing debate," Mr Yates said, "and having appropriate and secure housing is also an essential component of an effective retirement income policy.

"Sadly, homelessness among older Australians, especially women, is increasing at an alarming rate as more people retire without owning their own home.

"In particular, older women are feeling the brunt of a system that's not working for them; after a break in their careers to care for family; or because of a marriage breakdown; and with less superannuation behind them.

"This report from AHURI reveals how widespread housing stress is among older people, that it's increasing, and is impacting every generation."

The Federal Government, however, appears reluctant to address the cost-of-renting crisis even as the number of older people grows.

The anticipated and much needed increase in CRA failed to materialise in the recent budget along with funding to help improve social housing stocks.

In its response to the 2021/22 Federal Budget, Mission Australia expressed disappointment at the "lack of leadership on affordable housing to address grim shortage of low-cost, affordable housing and rising homelessness.

"The essential social infrastructure of social housing has been ignored yet again while the Federal Government continues to heavily invest in other infrastructure. Where is the leadership and innovation which this issue desperately requires?" asked Mission Australia's chief executive James Toomey.

"While we acknowledge the Government's investment in measures to help support people into home ownership, including single parents, through the Family Home Guarantee, these do not go far enough to address the structural problems with housing and homelessness in this country.

"The grim shortage of social housing and affordable rentals, high levels of housing stress, punitive rate of JobSeeker and other income support payments and a job market topped up with insecure, short term jobs is triggering a spike in financial distress, housing insecurity and homelessness.

"The recent challenges of bushfires, flooding and the pandemic have reinforced that every Australian needs access to safe, stable accommodation so people can work, access education, connect with their community, look after their wellbeing and live with dignity.

"One of the most effective things that our Federal Government can do to ensure people are safely housed and to prevent people becoming homeless is to create the conditions for innovations which will increase the supply of affordable housing options, including social housing."

Research by Housing on the Aged Action Group (HAAG) in Victoria last year showed the extent of the housing crisis for older people in that state.

Written by Dr Debbie Faulkner from the University of South Australia, the report combined census data with data from specialist homelessness services to closely examine the housing circumstances of people aged 55+.

Some of the report's findings were shocking, belying the old stereotypes of homeless people being "rough sleepers with complex needs, instead showing the fastest growing cohorts of people becoming homeless are women and older people.

For many homelessness means couch surfing, living in severe overcrowding, and temporarily in rooming houses and emergency accommodation.

Women aged 65-74 showed the highest increase in people experiencing homelessness, closely followed by women aged 75-84 years old.

In addition to those Victorians recorded as homeless at the last census, over 2400 people aged 55+ were in marginal housing (overcrowded, improvised dwellings and caravan parks), most people aged 55+ were coming to homelessness services due to financial difficulties and housing crisis, with only 3.8 per cent due to medical issues (including mental health).

There were over 28,000 households who are renting with at least one person over 65 in housing stress in Victoria, with 11,000 in extreme housing stress (paying more than 50 per cent of their income in rent).

The report also showed 25 per cent of homeless people aged 55+ were in regional Victoria and there were 10,000 households headed by an older renter in housing stress in regional Victoria.

HAAG has done similar studies in other states which paint equally grim pictures.

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