The Centre for Ageing Better says 4.5 million people aged 50 and over live in substandard homes
Millions of substandard homes are making older people sick, a damning report suggests.
New analysis lays bare the scale of Britain’s poor-quality housing with one in five living in accommodation that could be making existing health conditions worse.
The Centre for Ageing Better says 4.5 million people aged 50 and over with a condition aggravated by the cold reside in a home with one or more serious problems – including 2.8 million aged between 50 and 70 and 1.7 million aged 70 and above.
The charity warned the NHS cannot function efficiently and the economy grow, while the crisis intensifies.
Chief executive Dr Carole Easton said: “Our latest research shows that our poor-quality housing crisis is putting people with health conditions in their 50s, 60s and beyond, in harm’s way.
“This is obviously terrible for those individuals who live in homes that carry a very real risk of making them sick, particularly when winter comes around.
“But it is also very bad news for the country. Older workers living in homes that are making their health conditions worse are going to be less likely to be able to work and help grow the economy. Older people whose serious health conditions are made worse by their homes will require treatment, putting additional winter pressures on our health system.
“All could be averted if we tackled poor-quality housing with the urgency and priority it demands.”
Problems include rising damp, water leaks, bad condensation, electrical and plumbing problems
Experts looked at those aged 50 and over with a range of conditions impacted by substandard living conditions including respiratory diseases, congestive heart failure, asthma, heart disease and neurological disease. Housing problems included rising damp, water leaks, bad condensation, electrical or plumbing problems, rot and decay, being too cold in the winter and structural issues.
Data shows one in three lives in a home with a housing problem including one in seven who report having three or more issues.
The highest proportion of older people with health and housing problems are living in the rented sector, but the largest number, totalling 2.2 million people over 50, own their home outright.
Older renters with a health condition are up to three times more likely to have five or more issues with their home than someone 50 or over who owns their home outright.
Analysis was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
The new crisis is the latest to hit old people after millions had their £300 snatched by the Labour government in September.
And it comes despite repeated warnings from charities about how pensioners had been ignored and forgotten.
By the end of this parliament in 2029 there will be 14.6 million people aged 65 and over – an 11% increase on the 13.2 million today.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “For me, a disappointment of the General Election campaign was the almost total lack of discussion about the implications of an ageing population. It’s one of the most significant trends impacting our country and the world, yet you wouldn’t think so from the political debate. What’s more, when it is mentioned at all it is often described in doom-laden terms whereas, in reality, living longer is something we should all celebrate – it’s certainly preferable to the alternative.
“We need politicians, on all sides, to be better informed about the views and experiences of older people and, frankly, to care more about older people’s outcomes and be bolder about acting to help them.”
The crisis comes as millions of OAPs have had their Winter Fuel Payment stopped
A recent poll found three in four of those aged 65 and over do not believe society understands the issues facing today’s retirees.
In one of the final acts before Parliament was dissolved Caroline Nokes, the then Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, wrote to then Minister for Women and Equalities and now Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, saying: “Despite the UK’s ageing population and the fundamental challenges and opportunities this presents there is insufficient focus on ageing and older people…I believe the case for a Commissioner for Older People’s Rights in England is now overwhelming.”
She added: “There is strong evidence of very high prevalence of harmful ageist attitudes and discrimination across UK society. In every area we examined, there was evidence that ageism is not treated as seriously as other forms of discrimination, despite a wealth of evidence on its harms to individuals and society.”
Her committee launched an inquiry in 2023 to examine whether discrimination and stereotyping, like characterising older people as helpless or wealthy “boomers”, was preventing them from participating fully in society.
Pensioners champion and Peer Baroness Ros Altmann, 68, was set to be made Minister for Ageing in 2015, but the move was vetoed by the Department for Work and Pensions.
She said: “Many just want old people to disappear. And the frenetic pace of life these days has left so many feeling marginalised. Decisions affecting their lives are made by people more than half their age and the emphasis on technology to access vital services like car parks, banks and helplines has seen them left cast adrift. We need someone to take this issue by the scruff of the neck and stand up for this generation.”
If she had been appointed to the Cabinet Office position as expected, Baroness Altmann would have become a public ambassador for ageing issues, holding the Government and public and private service providers to account. Her appointment was scrapped after opposition within the government.
The list of concerns for OAPs is long and growing daily. Technology is widely seen as a modern day cure-all but relatively few older people own a smartphone.
The social care crisis remains a huge worry for millions who are petrified of having to flog the family silver, and denying loved ones an inheritance, to pay for care.
The remains the lowest in Europe and there are few opportunities for those who want to continue working past retirement age to retrain.
Dr Easton said: “Ageism is the most widespread form of discrimination in the UK.”
A government spokesman said: “Despite the challenging inheritance faced by this government, through our Plan for Change we’re taking action to improve housing conditions across all tenures and ensure homes are decent, safe and warm – especially for the most vulnerable.
“We’re consulting on reforms to the Decent Homes Standard next year to improve the quality of social and privately rented housing and introducing Awaab’s Law to both sectors to tackle damp, dangerous and cold conditions for all renters in England.
“Our Warm Homes Plan will also help people find ways to save money on energy bills and deliver cleaner heating, with up to 300,000 households to benefit from upgrades next year.”