Blog Post
Manchester and the rise of retirees living in rented accommodation
I was helping my mum move house the other day as she had sold her house and was moving into a smaller rent retirement apartment as it was easier for her as she now didn’t have to worry about stairs. I remembered reading a survey conducted by the National Landords’ Association that had revealed that the number of retired people living in private rented accommodation has soared by over 200,000 in the last four years. It got me thinking about the rental market in Manchester.
The NLA’s quarterly survey of over 700 tenants shows that the proportion of retired private renters has grown by a massive 13 per cent since 2012 – approximately 220,000.
Seventeen per cent of the retired private renting population live in the south east, which is the area with the highest proportion across the UK. But only three per cent live in London itself, making it the area with the smallest proportion area across England and Wales for renting in retirement.
The association says there are almost four times as many retired renters in the North West (15 per cent) compared to the North East (4 per cent), and twice as many retirees rent property in the West Midlands (8 per cent) compared to the East Midlands (4 per cent).
However, the proportion of landlords who let to retired renters has almost halved during the same timeframe, with nine per cent of landlords saying they currently let to retirees compared to 19 per cent in 2012.
In Manchester there are 47,544 people over the age of 65, this makes up 9.5% of the population. If we take the average for the North West in rented accommodation this would mean 7131 over 65’s are living in rented properties in Manchester.
There are more and more people turning to private rented housing at every stage of their lives, including in retirement. Landlords appreciate the stability and assurances often provided by older households, but are finding it increasingly difficult to build businesses around the needs of potentially vulnerable tenants” explains Carolyn Uphill, NLA chairman.
“As the proportion of retired renters continues to grow there’s a real worry that homes won’t be available in the private sector, forcing people to look further afield – leaving communities they have known and contributed to for decades” she says.
I know my landlords certainly appreciate the stability that retired tenants give them as the length of the tenancy is usually considerably longer than the average. However, it is not just this sector that is struggling to find suitable properties as there is still a lack of quality properties to rent at the moment.
There are some great properties out there which are offering good yields and would be excellent buy to let properties! If you would like to talk further about this then please feel free to give me a call or drop in to the office for a coffee!
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