Show caption There are 370,000 pensioner households currently paying rent to private landlords. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Housing Number of pensioners living in rented homes may treble by 2035 Increasing numbers of pensioners may be vulnerable to exploitation from rogue landlords, warns Generation Rent Ruth McKee Sat 11 Nov 2017 19.10 GMT Share on Facebook

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Almost 1 million pensioners could be trapped in the private rented sector in 20 years, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation from rogue landlords, according to a renters’ rights campaign group.

There are 370,000 pensioner households currently paying rent to private landlords in the UK.

But campaigners expect that figure to almost treble to 995,000 by 2035-36 if housebuilding remains at current levels.

The Generation Rent campaign group has warned that these pensioners will be forced to rely on housing benefit to cover their rent, which will then pile pressure on the welfare budget.

New research from the lobby group also revealed that older renters are more likely to prefer secure tenancies with rent controls and tenancy guarantees.

Housing groups are currently lobbying the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to include housebuilding and rent reform pledges in his budget which will be delivered later this month.



Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, said: “With most debates on housing focused on young adults, politicians risk neglecting the vast numbers of people who are already too old to get a mortgage and face a lifetime of renting.

“As they start retiring in greater numbers, the state will have to pick up the tab unless it makes some fundamental changes to the housing market.

“The answer is not further cuts to housing benefit, because that will only further immiserate people who have nowhere else to turn.

“Instead, we need years of investment in new homes to bring down rents and a transformation of the private rental market into a professional provider of long term homes.