If I did own my own home, I'd probably sell it. I'd say, no thank you very much.
I think a lot people do think it's a bit weird to live with someone who's that much older.
I expected that I would be paying off my mortgage, and being able to paint a room when I wanted to paint it
not in this situation where I house-share to be able to afford the rent.
The population of renters over 65 is going to more than double in the next 20 years.
So this is not a problem that's going to go away. We've got to find some solutions.
I've rented in share places almost all of my life. I never really had an aspiration for homeownership.
And I'm fairly comfortable with that.
I'm Charlie, Charlie Richardson.
I've been living in this sharehouse with Toby and Beth for about eight months.
I'm 65, Beth is about 35, I think. Toby's in his late twenties.
It's a pleasant place to be, it's affordable for me. And I like the company.
He is probably the most sociable out of all of us, I reckon.
He spends most of his time out and about with his friends
and then comes back here and regales us with all of his stories.
He's probably the youngest one out of us.
He's just come back from a psychedelic country music festival, up north.
Whilst we've been sulking in this house doing uni work.
I grew up in public housing in the UK.
At that time, I used to think of homeownership as something for wealthy people.
And I still don't have that aspiration to own a home. It sort of weakens your choices
because you can't walk away from that job because you've got to pay the mortgage.
It's great having an older member because you can just nick a bit of their food and they forget about it.
Poor Charlie!
That's disgraceful. You're a disgrace.
My generation, people in their 60s now, were among the first to move into sharehousing.
So, a proportion of them will be prepared to return to that way of life.
And for some people, that won't be out of choice.
For me, I don't feel disadvantaged or anything of the sort because I'm living in a sharehouse. I like it.
Essentially, you have got the Baby Boomers stuck
because houses these days cost so much money
people often arrive in their older years with a very, very large mortgage.
You know, they've raised a family, the kids might have left
the marriage might have broken up, the partner may have passed away.
There may have been a divorce. So that presents a real dilemma.
I was a single parent and I didn't have the funds to buy at the time
Still don't, that's why I'm house sharing.
My name's Jane, I'm 56.
And I live with two guys, Keith and Naween.
I'm Keith. I'm 62 years young. I've been here since earlier this year
following a relationship breakdown and I found myself on my own.
The reason I'm renting now is at my age I just didn't particularly want to get saddled with another mortgage.
I'd probably die before it was paid off anyway, and my family would get lumbered with paying it off.
So that's why I'm renting now.
I guess the downside to house sharing is you know, you do get stuck in your ways as you get older.
You get to this point where you just like things done the way you like things done.
Jane is undoubtedly the matriarch. Occasionally cutlery hasn't been cleaned exactly as it should have been
and she'll lay them out on the on the top with a little note.
Well good on her. She keeps us right.
All the fears and insecurities of house sharing in your later years
it's that uncertainty of not knowing, not thinking OK for the rest of my life
this is my address, this is where I'm going to live.
And what if everything goes smoothly 'til you're 75, and then something happens.
I don't worry about the actual act of moving out. I'm more concerned about where the hell I'm moving out to.
Not everybody in this day and age is going to be able to afford to buy a house
and then potentially live off the capital gain during your retirement.
I don't have a nest egg. My superannuation is tiny.
I'd be relying on a pension and the pension isn't high enough.
So these things don't add up to a rosy future.
You know as house prices have become much more unaffordable we now have a younger generation
who is in reality, facing this in their older age. What's going to happen to those people?
- Cheers! - Cheers to you too!
I've kind of accepted that I probably won't own my own place outright.
And I think it's nice to see that you can do this, like that it is possible. It's not actually super weird.
I wouldn't mind living in share houses, you know as I get older
and that might be the reality for a lot more people over the next few years.
I would like to own a house but I guess it's a pipeline dream, got to become a millionaire first.
I think I'm in my ideal living arrangement.
How long do I see myself doing it? I'll probably be renting a share house until I die.