Renting at 60: The Housing Shift Nobody Warned Us About

Every now and then you read an article that stops you in your tracks. For me, it was a recent piece about the rapid rise in people in their 60s and 70s who are still renting – or even flatsharing – in later life.

It hit a nerve, because it’s the flip side of a story I’ve already told on SixtyRocks. In “We Bought a House for £37k – Why My Generation Had It Easier”, I talk about how Elaine and I managed to get on the housing ladder when prices were still vaguely sensible. It wasn’t easy, but at least it was possible.

Reading about older renters today, I realised that for a lot of people our age – and younger – that moment simply never came.

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We Struggled With the Mortgage – But At Least We Had One

When we bought our first house, it felt like a huge leap. We weren’t wealthy, we didn’t have a secret pot of cash, and there were plenty of months when the mortgage payment looked terrifying. We did all the classics:

• Cheap meals and “budget weeks”
• Old cars we prayed would pass the MOT
• Turning the heating down and putting another jumper on
• Years where “holiday” meant a day out and a packed lunch

But we hung on. And eventually we reached that magical moment when the mortgage was gone and the monthly outgoings dropped. It felt like someone had taken a weight off our shoulders.

That’s what the pension system quietly expects: that by the time you’re drawing a state pension, your housing costs have disappeared.

As I wrote in my recent state pension age blog, the whole system is built on assumptions. One of the biggest? That you own your home outright by the time you retire.

For a growing number of people, that assumption is simply wrong.

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Older Renters: The Hidden Side of the Housing Story

I’ve read so many stories of older renters in recent months — people in their 60s and 70s who have worked all their lives, raised families, done everything “right”… and now find themselves:

• Living in flatshares with people younger than their children
• Stuck in damp, mouldy rentals they can’t afford to leave
• Checking rental apps every day, hoping for a room that doesn’t involve stairs
• On waiting lists for social housing that never seem to move

The housing crisis for older people is becoming one of the biggest financial pressures facing retirees today. This isn’t the comfortable retirement image many of us were sold. It feels closer to the 1980s “bedsit land” from Soft Cell’s lyrics than the glossy brochure version of later life.

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Why So Many People Never Got On the Ladder

It’s easy – and very unfair – to assume that people renting in later life must have been careless with money. But when you scratch the surface, similar themes appear:

• House prices rising far faster than wages
• Divorce or separation wiping out savings
• Job losses or caring responsibilities derailing careers
• Growing up in families who never had the chance to buy
• Private rents so high that saving a deposit was impossible

Behind our generation – the ones who just about caught the ladder – there’s a whole group who never got near it.

If you want to see what that ladder looked like in the early 90s, my post about buying a house for £37k explains why things were so different.

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Renting on a Pension: The Maths Just Don’t Work

For many older renters, the financial reality looks like this:

• Rent staying high (or rising)
• Pensions not keeping up with the cost of living
• No realistic chance of saving extra
• The state pension age creeping later and later

You can clearly see the housing crisis for older people in the rise of flatsharing, later-life renting and inaccessible homes. To understand how pension changes affect people in their 60s, my blog on the state pension age delay gives a simple overview.

But the bottom line is this: the numbers don’t add up for renters.

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Accessibility, Health and “Ageing in Place”

Another complication: accessibility. Many homes aren’t suitable for ageing bodies, and adapting a rented home is far harder than adapting one you own.

Many of us in our 60s are already thinking about:

• Stairs and handrails
• Bathrooms that are easier to get in and out of
• Step-free access
• Being close to buses, shops and GPs

If you want a deeper look at this issue, both Age UK and Shelter have excellent resources explaining why older renters face unique challenges.

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Loneliness, Flatsharing and the New “Normal”

Some older renters actually enjoy flatsharing — it offers companionship, company and a sense of safety. There are even dedicated co-living communities and matching services for older lodgers.

But there’s a big emotional difference between choosing to share… and having no other option. Unless policy changes, the housing crisis for older people will only intensify for future generations entering retirement.

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Final Thoughts: Growing Older in “Bedsit Land” Britain

When I look at the rise of older renters, I feel a mixture of:

• Gratitude for the timing that allowed us to buy
• Sadness for those who never had that chance
• A determination to talk honestly about life after 60

Growing older isn’t the issue. It’s trying to grow older in a system built on assumptions that no longer match reality.

If you’re renting in your 50s, 60s or beyond, you’re not alone — and you’re certainly not a failure. You’re living in a country that simply didn’t keep up its side of the bargain.

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📥 Before You Go – Get My Free ChatGPT Guide for Over 60s

If you’ve got your own story about renting, downsizing or navigating later life today, I’d genuinely love to hear it — pop a comment on the blog or on the SixtyRocks YouTube channel.