According to the Census Bureau, the number of individuals aged 65 and above in the country is likely to increase from 62 million to 82 million by 2050. As more seniors look to live independently, the demand for affordable and accessible senior housing options is expected to increase accordingly. But, along with this, there are challenges that need to be addressed, such as growing housing costs, increasing rents, and limited availability of affordable housing options.
Key challenges faced by seniors with housing
The expanding senior population in the country is spread across all states and areas. This puts significant pressure on accessing housing resources, particularly for seniors with limited or fixed incomes. Furthermore, various housing challenges, such as a lack of affordable options and accessibility issues with existing housing, are already evident, and they will likely intensify in the coming years unless necessary steps and strategies are undertaken to address them.
1. Availability
Seniors looking to purchase a new home or rent an existing home may find various options, either in their area of preference or elsewhere. But when they are looking for affordable or low-cost alternatives, they will have to deal with long waitlists. Sometimes, seniors with limited income or experiencing sudden changes in their financial situation, such as imminent foreclosure, have no choice but to pool their lifetime savings to buy any available home or rent an existing one. Even then, they will likely experience significant delays due to the lack of available homes.
Promoting and expanding the outreach of shared housing programs and multifamily housing is an immediate solution to address this challenge. In a shared housing arrangement, two or more people share a permanent rental housing unit, dividing costs such as rent and utilities among themselves. When it comes to multifamily housing, one property is shared by more than one household.
According to the Census Bureau, nearly 15.1 million homes are vacant across the country. Campaigns can be initiated to encourage owners of such properties to participate in senior housing voucher programs. This would increase the number of housing options available and help reduce the waiting lists in those respective areas.
Another solution to address this issue is to promote the construction of new independent-living apartment complexes in areas with high demand.
2. Affordability
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), households spend 30-50% of their incomes on rent, leaving limited funds for other critical expenses like food, education, wellness care, and investment. High rents can significantly impact household finances, especially for seniors living on limited income, making it difficult to maintain their standard of living.
One of the best ways to address this problem is to increase the participation of properties in Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program, where people earning less than 50% of the Area Median Income can get subsidized housing units for rent. There are various other strategies to ensure access to affordable housing units for seniors.
- Adopt low-cost construction methods and technologies that are weather-resistant to accelerate the development of affordable housing units.
- Establish community land trusts and housing cooperatives to make land ownership and construction costs affordable.
3. Accessibility
As seniors age, mobility-related challenges increase, which can cause problems if the house they live in is not designed to meet their specific needs. While newly built independent living apartment complexes may offer senior-friendly features, most older homes will not, restricting the number of options for seniors to choose from.
Remodeling and installing senior-friendly amenities and accessories are the only options to improve accessibility in senior housing units. Property owners and owners of senior housing complexes must be mandated to incorporate such upgrades in properties that lack them. There are various ways to make a particular home senior-friendly.
- Building ramps and widening hallways for easy movement
- Installing automatic door openers for improved convenience
- Adding grab bars and handles in frequently used spaces inside a home
- Using toilet seat risers, available at most hardware stores
- Installing countertops and shelves at reachable heights.
- Placing anti-slip mats in bathrooms
- Replacing knob-based handles with lever-type alternatives that provide easier grip
4. Support services
Seniors who are not computer-savvy or do not have internet access may sometimes struggle with limited access to information about housing options. They also may find it difficult to frequently visit local agencies, charities, or public housing authorities, which are some of the most useful resources for finding affordable housing for low-income seniors. Often, they will be unaware of benefits like SNAP and other free meal services. Having access to the right information and some assistance can help them navigate the often complex processes of finding and securing affordable housing. The first step to address this issue can be creating extensive outreach programs using SMS, emails, and housing fairs in local community centers to spread awareness among seniors about low-cost housing options. Another way is to encourage them to sign up for outreach initiatives where volunteers and local agency workers can reach out to them with information. There are various other ways to alleviate some of the barriers seniors face.
- Simplify application processes where seniors need to visit local agencies only a few times while ensuring all applications are inspected thoroughly to prevent fraudulent applications.
- Enroll services of local student volunteers who can accompany seniors to SNAP-authorized retail grocery stores and assist them.
- Incentivize support services like cooking, housekeeping, and laundry for seniors.
- Make the housing websites and their search functions more senior-friendly by using large fonts and visuals and incorporating audio search options.