Number of over-50s households privately renting ‘surges 61% since 2012’

People aged over 50 now account for one in seven households where people are privately renting, research suggests.

Over-50s make up 15% of privately-rented households in Britain, up from 11% in 2012, according to Hamptons International, which used its own lettings figures to make the calculations for the whole of Britain.

It estimates that the number of over-50s households renting privately has surged by 61% since 2012.
It estimates that over-50s rented 791,580 homes across Britain this year, 61% more than in 2012 when the figure was put at 490,450 and 8.2% more than in 2018 when it was 731,340.

This year’s total is the highest since Hampton’s International’s records started in 2012.

Based on average rental costs, Hamptons calculates that over-50s will pay £9.2 billion in private rents this year.

Across Britain, the South East has the highest proportion of over-50s renters, where nearly a fifth (19%) of tenants are over 50.

The South West and the North West of England follow, at 16%.

Meanwhile, the East of England, London and Yorkshire and the Humber have the lowest proportions of tenants aged over 50, at 11%, the research found.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said: “The number of over-50s renting in Great Britain has reached a record high.”

She said that with younger generations getting on the property ladder later in life or not at all: “Tenants are getting older, and an ever more diverse group of people are calling the rented sector home.”

Here are the percentages of privately-rented homes with over-50s tenants across Britain, according to Hamptons International’s projections, ranked from highest to lowest:

1. South East, 19%
=2. South West, 16%
=2. North West, 16%
=4. Wales, 15%
=4. North East, 15%
6. West Midlands, 14%
7. East Midlands, 13%
8. Scotland, 12%
=9. Yorkshire and the Humber, 11%
=9. London, 11%
=9. East of England, 11%