“When I recovered from getting the notice, I looked at the commercial rental market, and it was obvious there was no way I was going to find anything.”About 19,300 Australians aged 55 or over are currently homeless, and 440,000 older households will be unable to find or afford suitable housing by 2031, research from the AustralianFiona York, the executive officer of Housing for the Aged Action Group, says this number could increase.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup There’s a decrease in older people living in community and public housing, meaning more – almost 700,000 people – are in private rentals. Of those, only 19% are paying 30% or less of their income on rent.Louise Wilksch with the community garden she planted on the nature strip in her neighbourhood.“The entirety of the Australian retirement system is built on the assumption or the expectation that older people will be owning a home by the time they’re retired,” she says.