After decades of campaigning for safe, secure and affordable housing for older people, the housing crisis is finally getting the attention it deserves in this election campaign. Labor, the Coalition and the Greens are all vying to woo voters with pledges they claim will improve the affordability of housing.

HAAG is pleased that housing has been such a prominent issue in the election, but we are deeply disappointed that that the unprecedented housing crisis facing older people has not been addressed.

Every day at HAAG we speak with older renters struggling to survive on low incomes, who are now faced with escalating rents, and people trying to pay off their mortgage into retirement. These numbers are only growing.

We all deserve to have a secure, affordable home for our health and wellbeing, and to enable us to age in place. Too many, however, are living in precarious housing and at risk of homelessness. A recent article in the Guardian Tracy is about to begin chemo and she’s also getting evicted. Welcome to Australia’s housing crisis paints a vivid and distressing picture of what this means in reality.

Australia’s retirement system is built on the assumption that a person will own their home when they retire. However, this is not a reality for increasing numbers of older people as home ownership rates fall and more people reach retirement age still renting or having to pay a mortgage. HAAG research has shown that more than 42% of older people over 55 years do not own their home.

Older people’s earning capacity is limited, as declining health and ageism lock them out of employment. Women are particularly affected, as lifetimes of caring, part-time and low paid work, low superannuation and the financial impacts of divorce mean they have limited savings.

What we urgently need is a significant increase in public and community housing – homes that are genuinely affordable and provide secure tenure. And for those who are not eligible for social housing, we need investment in low-cost retirement housing and shared equity schemes appropriate for older people.

HAAG wrote to the major parties in the lead up to the election, calling on them to support the changes we propose to ease this housing crisis – you can read about our asks here.  

At the time of writing we've received responses from the Greens and from the Coalition.

Everybody’s Home has also compiled the housing commitments of the major parties in their Federal Election Commitment Tracker.

How do the party responses align with HAAG asks?

The Australian Greens have proposed more public and community housing by establishing a public property developer. This would provide an increase of 610,000 houses, with 70% available to rent at 25% of income, and 30% available to purchase at just over cost price. The allocation would prioritise those with long connections to the area, including older people who have been priced out of the market. The Greens have  also committed to deliver a ‘renter right to solar’ and to end tax concessions for wealthy investors.

The Coalition acknowledges that older women are at risk, and is proposing early access to their superannuation to put towards a home deposit, however, this will not assist older women who cannot access bank loans and does not address housing affordability.

HAAG hasn’t had a response from Labor, but their publicly available housing announcements focus on incentives aimed at first home owners, which most older people won’t qualify for. While there’s debate about how effective they’ll be, it is clear that they won’t help older people.

Regardless of who forms the new government, they must do much more to address the housing crisis, to ensure that the needs of older people are recognised, and that all have the homes they need.