Four years ago a cross party group of Members of Parliament warned that more than two million older people were suffering physical and mental ill health, and even dying as a consequence of living in substandard and non-accessible homes. Now an opportunity to improve their lives has been missed, as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities hands back to the Treasury £1.9 bn that was intended to improve housing in England, because of ‘a lack of suitable projects.’ Yet a new report shows that less than half of that amount, just £625m, could improve pensioners’ housing and lives, and boost the economy at the same time. At the same time, thousands of older private renters are facing eviction.

Homes posing serious threats to occupants.

The 2019 enquiry by the all-party parliamentary group for ageing and older people found that substandard housing costs the NHS £1.4bn every year with cold, damp and other hazards causing falls and exacerbating conditions such as heart disease, strokes, respiratory illnesses and arthritis as well as contributing to poor mental health.

The current report, by the Centre for Ageing Better and the cross-party think tank Demos supported by Dunhill Medical Trust, points out that 3.5 million homes in England pose a serious threat to their occupants’ health and safety because of trip hazards, lack of adequate facilities, and dangerous levels of cold and damp. Almost one in seven homes (984,000) headed by someone aged 65 or over is classed as non-decent.

Older homeowners cannot afford to improve their homes.

‘Homes which fail to keep people safe and warm are contributing to the deaths of thousands of people every year,’ said Dr Carole Easton, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better. ‘Many homeowners cannot afford the relatively small costs needed to improve them. The housing stock is woefully inadequate to meet people’s needs now, this is only going to get worse as our population ages.’

Spending just £625 million a year to improve the safety, heating and accessibility of homes would help remove fatal hazards and improve the quality of 520,000 homes a year, according to the report.

Not only would it reduce the cost to the NHS, but it would also see the government benefiting from a 16-fold return on investment as new jobs, apprenticeships and investment opportunities would be created. 100,000 new jobs could be created and there could be a £10 billion annual economic boost.

Thousands of older private renters are being evicted.

Meanwhile, the homeless Charity Shelter reported that one in fifty private renters aged over 55 have received ‘no fault’ Section 21 eviction notices – the equivalent of 90 older renters per day, or one notice served every 16 minutes.

Karen Murphy, 61, and her husband had privately rented the same house for 16 years, but were recently evicted by their landlord along with their son. It was just ‘sheer panic’, she said, ‘You can't sleep. You can't eat properly. You walk around in a daze. You know, you just don't know what you're going to do. I just kept praying.’ They have ended up in a rental property that is being renovated.

Sometimes we feel that there’s little we can do to change big issues, but our Members of Parliament are there to act in the interests of their constituents. The Times’ reported recently that the Government is thinking again about the potential closure of Trains’ Booking Offices, as a result of the high public response. Those of us who have the wellbeing of older people at heart can contact our MPs and ask them to make safe the homes of older people who can’t afford to do it themselves, and secure the tenancies of the over 55s who rent. Our MPs email addresses are available here: https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/