Private renting is surging among over-65s and the Pensions Policy Institute predicts that the number of rented households headed by someone over 65 will triple to 17 per cent by 2040.
Carole Railton, 75, is a body language expert who lives in Wapping, London. She sold her house in Islington in 2021 following a health scare and chose to rent. Here she explains why she will never buy again
In 1989, I had just broken up with a boyfriend. I liked the area, and so I found a house up the road for £62,000. It had no gas or electricity, but it seemed easiest to stay local, so that’s what I did. It was a three-storey Georgian terrace house, absolutely beautiful, and in a lovely location on a no-through road near the canal. But it was not even livable at first – I spent the first few months bashing the walls, pretending it was the ex-boyfriend.
I spent the next 32 years renovating and maintaining that house, and it became a labour of love. It didn’t have a bath, and the garden was all concreted over when I bought it, so it was a full-on renovation and a significant investment. But it was on a good street, so I felt very lucky.
I had a good job as a sales training manager for Xerox and I also had lodgers to help fund the renovations for about eight of the 32 years I lived there. I made loads of friends that way, actually, including an Italian woman who had me at her wedding when she moved back to Italy.
