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Key Points
- The Grattan Institute says an increasing number of renting retirees are at risk of homelessness.
- The federal government has increased rent assistance by 27 per cent in the previous two budgets.
- Experts say further assistance is needed to protect older renters.
For the poorest 40 per cent of 45 to 54-year-olds, home ownership has fallen from 68 per cent in 1981 to 54 per cent in 2021. Many older renters will not have enough in their savings to keep paying rent during retirement, as the poorest 40 per cent of renting households between the ages of 55 and 64 have less than $40,000 in net financial wealth.
Increasing the maximum rate of rent assistance by $53 a week for singles and $40 a week for couples would provide retirees with enough to rent the cheapest 25 per cent of one-bedroom homes in the Australian capitals, the think tank found.
A new report has called for a big increase in rent assistance to help retirees who don’t own a home. Source: AAP / Tom Rabe
Increasing rent assistance for all recipients would cost about $2 billion every year — and about $500 million of that would cover retirees.
“Only a further substantial boost to rent assistance can ensure that all Australians get the dignified retirement they deserve.”
