In 20 years, less than half of New Zealanders turning 65 will be homeowners. Of those who do own their own homes, many will retire with an outstanding mortgage.
For older people, available housing is too often unaffordable, unsuitable and outside of their own communities, says Kay Saville-Smith, a sociologist at Wellington's Centre for Research, Evaluation and Social Assessment.
Photo: Andre Oullet / Unsplash
Listen to the full interview with Kay Saville-Smith
- Kathryn Ryan reads listener feedback on this story here.
The steep rise in over-65s renting is problematic because New Zealand superannuation is predicated on mortgage-free homeownership, Saville-Smith tells Kathryn Ryan.
Twenty-five years ago, close to 90 percent of New Zealand homeowners retired mortgage-free.
A new concentration in privately owned rental properties has added to the problem.
“New Zealand has always had a very lowly regulated rental market, it’s changed in recent times, but even with the recent tougher reforms, it's not a strongly regulated market. Tenure security is low, so people can't always know that they're going to have a home, their ability to make their house a home is low, and the condition of that stock is poor.”
Housing has become difficult for older people especially as they have specific housing needs related to mobility and access and often wish to stay in their communities after retirement, Saville-Smith says.
New Zealanders over 65 face three main pressures caused by the housing crisis, she says.
“Firstly, the lack of affordability - [older people] are really oppressed by costs. And even though they're very attractive to landlords in terms of the behaviour in general, they're not attractive to landlords in terms of raising rents.”
Secondly, the dwellings that are available are often unsuitable.
“Seniors need both space, on one hand, but also accessibility and functionality. Our [housing] stock generally, not just the rental stock, doesn't do that.”
Although New Zealand is in the midst of a building boom, the housing being built is not designed with older people in mind, Saville-Smith says.
“It is not just getting enough supply, it's getting enough supply at the right price points with the right design.”
Thirdly, when older people are forced to move away from their community because they have been priced out, their well-being suffers, she says.
This is a two-fold loss - for both the seniors and their communities.
"Breaking networks and support often leads to all sorts of problems of isolation [for older people]. Sometimes it can be associated with cognitive decline.
“Seniors in their communities that know and understand [the local area] are the bedrock often of those communities. And if you take them away, the community itself suffers.”
A new accommodation project on Stewart Island aims to tackle this problem so older, low-income residents can stay on the island.
Out of 400 residents on the island, over 100 are over the age of 60, Seniors Cottage Trust project leader Bruce Ford tells Kathryn Ryan.
The Stewart Island community wants to keep their older neighbours on the island as they make a significant contribution to community life, he says.
“It's difficult to convince authorities that we have a preference to keep our people here.
“The experience has been that once they have a mishap and go to hospital in Invercargill they'll finish up in the home and they just deteriorate and don't come back.”
Six new cottages are now in the pipeline, which will be run by Habitat for Humanity Invercargill, he says.
“Half a dozen nice, cosy cottages, all the expenses included power, [communications], cleaning the windows, that sort of thing, so that those people can sit back and enjoy some retirement.”