Central Coast renters aged 55-69 are facing a bleak future, according to a recent survey conducted by not-for-profit housing provider Home in Place.

The survey revealed a growing group of Australians entering retirement with high housing costs, limited savings and little protection, with almost 12,000 people on the Central Coast in the demographic.

There are 11,595 people in the Central Coast local government area aged between 55 and 69 who are renting and may be facing housing instability and stress.

The findings highlight how exposed people are when they reach retirement age without owning a home in a system that assumes they will.

Home in Place Group Executive Manager, Marketing and Public Affairs, Martin Kennedy, said there was a huge hole in Australia’s retirement system.

“Our system assumes people will have low housing costs in later life because they will have paid off a mortgage,” he said.

“But there are at least 750,000 Australians who will hit retirement age in the next decade who are not homeowners; that is a recipe for disaster.”

Of the 772 renters surveyed: almost one in five (18 per cent) renters in their 50s and 60s do not believe they will ever retire; 27 per cent expect major financial stress in retirement; just 8 per cent of respondents expect a comfortable retirement; a third (34 per cent) say their superannuation would last less than five years if they had to rely on it while renting; four in 10 (42 per cent) say they definitely could not afford to rent privately on the Age Pension; and six in 10 currently spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, which puts them in the housing stress category – a third spend more than 40 per cent.

More than half (52 per cent) of respondents said they were already cutting back on groceries and social connection and 25 per cent were cutting healthcare and medication.

Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) worry about becoming housing insecure in later life and one in five already feel insecure in their current home.

“These results are shocking, but not surprising,” Mr Kennedy said.

“Lack of home ownership is one of the strongest predictors of poverty later in life.

“These results prove Australia is facing a reckoning we are simply not ready for.

“What we pretend is true in Australia is that by the time you reach retirement you will own your home and have very few housing costs.

“The pension assumes it; the superannuation system assumes it – our entire housing policy apparatus assumes it.

“But many Australians in their 50s and 60s are still renting and facing the full force of a private rental market that was never designed for people entering retirement.

“According to the Australian Taxation Office, the median superannuation balance for people in this age bracket is between $170,000 and $210,000.

“Median rent alone in any capital city will absorb this entire amount in less than a decade.

“Throw in escalating living costs and the whole lot could be gone in the blink of an eye.

“When a third of people tell us their super will last less than five years, that is not a retirement; that is a countdown.

“The choice many of these people will face is between a life of demeaning poverty, or working until they drop.”

But Mr Kennedy said working longer might not be the answer.

The research shows that renters in their 50s and 60s who are still working face a difficult labour market.

Nearly half (47 per cent), do not feel confident they could find steady employment if they needed a new job and a third (32 per cent) say they have been overlooked for work because of their age.

When asked what they would do if they could no longer afford their rental home, respondents nominated options such as moving to a cheaper area, using temporary accommodation or moving in with family.

“More than a quarter said they didn’t know what they would do; that in itself is a huge worry,” Mr Kennedy said.

The survey found overwhelming support (80 per cent) for increased government investment in social and affordable housing.

“For around 750,000 Australians, the retirement system is simply not fit for purpose,” Mr Kennedy said.

“We need more social and affordable housing to avoid disaster.”

The release of the findings comes as Home in Place continues its One in Ten campaign urging governments to commit to making at least one in every 10 new homes social or affordable.

The national survey of 772 renters aged 55-69 was conducted from March 10-25 by PureProfile.

This article appeared in Coast Community News, 14 May 2026.