London homelessness: 'I am living day to day in my car'

Martin Handyside started living out of his car in May after losing a room he rented

A growing number of older Londoners have entered the rental market over the past decade but rising costs and insecure tenures are pushing some into homelessness.

"I am living day to day in my car," Martin Handyside tells me.

He's 67 and says he has been sleeping in his car since May when he was evicted from a shared house where the landlord wanted to increase the rent.

He says he uses a local gym to shower but that he has had a bad cough and has been ill in the time he has been living in his car.

Mr Handyside says that on his combined state pension he could afford to rent another room in a shared house for about £800 a month but that he has struggled to rent privately.

He says his age is proving to be a barrier, with many house shares targeted at young professionals.

'I don't feel safe'

"It's absolutely freezing," Mr Handyside says about life in his car. "It would help if I had somewhere warm to stay."

The retired brewery worker and cleaner had cancer seven years ago which led to the removal of part of his lung. He also says he is fearful for his safety.

"Your life is in danger really, sleeping out there in the car," Mr Handyside adds. "I don't feel safe, I really don't."

When I spoke to him on Tuesday, he told me that he had contacted Wandsworth Council, which had not offered accommodation.

However, after being contacted by BBC London later that day, the council got in touch with him and offered him temporary accommodation immediately.

The number of London rental households with people over the age of 65 is rising, according to ONS data analysed by property specialists Hamptons. It says there were about 46,500 in 2011 and several thousand more by 2021.

By 2033, the figure is predicted to be above 70,000.

• Capital's older renters struggle to make ends meet

• The people stuck renting who can't afford to retire

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, says: "Most people in their 60s, 70s and 80s do own their own houses but as soon as you start to look below that, people are less and less likely to own, and it becomes harder to buy the older you get, so that is what is playing out in this research in terms of thinking that more people will rent in the future."

The data shows that 8% of over-65 households were privately renting in 2021, but Ms Beveridge says 13% of over-65 households will be reliant on the private rental sector in 10 years' time.

London's rents are at record levels so there are concerns those on a pension will struggle.

Abigail Wood, chief executive of Age UK London, says: "It makes things difficult for those older Londoners, and the lack of security of tenure that can come with renting privately means this is going to be a real worry for large numbers of older Londoners.

"We see there are higher rates of poverty amongst the older people in London who are renting compared to those who own their own housing, which is not surprising. It is both a cause and a consequence."

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