English Housing Survey: Housing across the life course, 2018-19

The MHCLG latest national statistics report reports on the annual survey of people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England.

It sets this out across 3 age cohorts; namely, the housing circumstances of 16 to 34 year olds, those between 35 and 64 year olds; and those aged 65 and over. It provides useful comparative information on a variety of housing characteristics, including tenure profile, income status, decent home quality, buying expectations and the prevalence of a long term disability.

Almost half of households with a person aged 65 and over had at least one household member with a long-term illness or disability. Prevalence of long-term illness and disability was higher among those aged 65 and over than in younger age groups.

While the majority of those aged 65 and over were outright owners (74%), 26% of those aged 65 and over were likely still paying housing costs because they were buying with a mortgage (5%), or living in the private rented (6%), or social rented sector (16%).

It also found that, in 2018-19, 2% of those aged 65 and over had moved in the past year, compared with 26% of those aged 16 to 34 and 7% of those aged 35 to 64.

And, interestingly, those aged 65 and over, were more likely to live in a non-decent home than those aged 16 to 34. 19% of older households live in a non-decent home, greater than the proportion of younger households (16%) but comparable to those aged 35 to 64 (17%).