How Australia is 'failing' most retirees who rent — and putting them at risk of homelessness

Two in three retirees who rent in the private market live in poverty and half of older renters have less than $25,000 in savings, according to a new report.

The amount Australians will need each year to fund a comfortable retirement has increased. Source: Getty / fstop123

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.

Retiree renters are being left behind, putting a growing number of older Australians at risk of becoming homeless, a new report has found.

And the problem is only going to get worse, according to the Grattan Institute report.

Two in three retirees who rent in the private market live in poverty and half of older renters have less than $25,000 in savings.

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.

"Today's low-income renters are tomorrow's renting retirees," the report said.

The report's lead author, Brendan Coates, has urged the federal government to increase the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 50 per cent for singles and 40 per cent for couples and index the payments.

The federal government has already increased rent assistance by 27 per cent during the previous two budgets.

But under these changes a single retiree who relies on income support would only be able to rent 4 per cent of one-bedroom homes in Sydney, 13 per cent in Brisbane, and 14 per cent in Melbourne.

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.

But the report argues this could be covered by further tightening superannuation tax breaks, curbing negative gearing — which allows investors to claim deductions on losses — and halving the capital gains tax discount — which halves the amount of tax paid by Australians who sell assets that have been owned for 12 months or more.

"Australia is failing too many retirees who rent," Coates said.

"Only a further substantial boost to rent assistance can ensure that all Australians get the dignified retirement they deserve."