Comparing the Life Circumstances of Older Public Housing Tenants to Older Private Renters in Sydney

Due to a virtual freeze on the building of new public housing and a decline in housing affordability, an ever-increasing number of older Australians are dependent on the private rental market for their accommodation. Using in-depth interviews, the situations of older renters in Sydney, in public housing and private rented accommodation who are dependent mainly on the age pension are compared. It is illustrated that older people in public housing are generally in a superior financial position, have far greater security of tenure and have a far greater capacity to live a life they value than do their counterparts in private rented accommodation. The latter were often in a desperate financial situation and extremely anxious about their future. Their capacity to control their present and their future was, in most cases, very limited.