The impact of the cost of living crisis on older people

Today we launched the eighth in our series of briefings on the cost of living crisis. 

This latest briefing is published as Britain’s inflation remains historically high, placing huge pressures on people. We examine what this means in practice for social housing providers and tenants by:

• Summarising the latest research and data available
• Examining the adequacy of the benefits system
• Shining a spotlight on the impact on older people
• Sharing good practice, showing how social housing providers are responding
• Highlighting useful resources.

We call on government to act to address the immediate and longer term pressures outlined by:

• Making a long-term commitment that benefit rates will always be enough to afford the essentials, with the principle of a minimum universal credit to protect people from going without essentials enshrined in law (the Essentials Guarantee)
• Restoring local housing allowance rates to at least the 30th per centile and return to annual uprating
  Introducing a social tariff for the energy market
• Funding a programme to increase the energy efficiency of existing housing stock at pace and commit to bring forward additional funding for energy-efficiency measures in homes
• Increasing investment and grant levels to provide the number of homes at social rents needed each year
• Investing in existing and new supported housing to meet a range of needs.

You can find out more about more our cost of living briefings series and read previous issues here.