Most households headed by older Australians own their home outright. In the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest Survey of Income and Housing, 68.1% of households headed by someone aged 65 to 74 and 79.4% of those aged 75 and over owned without a mortgage, against 29.5% of all households. Older households are smaller, more often live alone, and spend a smaller share of income on housing than any younger group. The survey’s latest year is 2019–20.
The node reading compares the ratio of people aged 65 and over to those aged 15 to 64 with its average since 2011. The housing figures come from a survey published separately.
The source
These figures come from the ABS Survey of Income and Housing, published as Housing Occupancy and Costs. Each household is classified by the age of its household reference person, one adult chosen to represent the household in the survey. The latest survey year is 2019–20; the survey has not been published for a later year. It is a sample survey of about 15,000 households, so each figure carries a margin of error, noted where it matters.
Owning outright
Home ownership rises with age, and so does owning without a mortgage. Among households with a reference person aged 55 to 64, 36.1% owned outright and 43.0% still had a mortgage. At 65 to 74 the shares were 68.1% and 13.4%; at 75 and over, 79.4% and 3.7%. The two oldest groups are the only ones in which most households own outright.
Renting is much less common among older households: 9.5% of those aged 65 to 74 and 6.0% of those aged 75 and over rented privately, against 26.2% of all households. A slightly larger share rented public housing than across all households, 3.8% against 2.9%.
Tenure by age of household reference person, 2019–20
Share of households. Renting includes private, public and other landlords; the small remainder is other tenure types. Source: ABS, Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, 2019–20, Table 6.1.
Houses, flats and living alone
The share of households in a separate house peaks at 77.6% for those aged 55 to 64 and falls to 67.9% at 75 and over, while the share in a flat or apartment rises to 15.4%. Households get smaller: 1.6 people on average at 75 and over, against 3.3 at 35 to 44, in dwellings averaging 2.8 bedrooms. More than half of households aged 75 and over, 51.8%, were one person living alone.
Share of households that are one person living alone, by age, 2019–20
Source: ABS, Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, 2019–20, Table 6.1.
| Household reference person aged | 45–54 | 55–64 | 65–74 | 75 and over | All households |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own outright | 15.2% | 36.1% | 68.1% | 79.4% | 29.5% |
| Own with a mortgage | 56.6% | 43.0% | 13.4% | 3.7% | 36.8% |
| Rent privately | 21.3% | 13.9% | 9.5% | 6.0% | 26.2% |
| Rent public housing | 2.9% | 4.3% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 2.9% |
| Live in a separate house | 77.1% | 77.6% | 72.9% | 67.9% | 69.1% |
| Live in a flat or apartment | 11.5% | 10.7% | 12.5% | 15.4% | 16.6% |
| Live alone | 17.6% | 26.3% | 36.4% | 51.8% | 25.2% |
| People per household | 3.1 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.6 |
| Bedrooms per dwelling | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.1 |
Shares of households, and averages, by age of the household reference person, 2019–20. Survey estimates: the 95% margin of error on the share of households aged 75 and over owning outright is ±2.8 percentage points. Source: ABS, Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, 2019–20, Table 6.1.
Housing costs and income
Older households spend the least on housing relative to income. 89.9% of households aged 75 and over spent 25% or less of gross income on housing, and 7.9% spent more than 30%, against 16.2% of all households and 33.8% of the youngest. That reflects owning outright rather than high incomes: 52.9% of households aged 75 and over were in the lowest fifth of equivalised disposable household income, and 67.4% relied mainly on government pensions and allowances.
Households spending more than 30% of income on housing, by age, 2019–20
Housing costs as a share of gross household income; excludes households with nil or negative income. Source: ABS, Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, 2019–20, Table 6.1.
What this does not show
The survey describes arrangements, not why people live as they do or whether they would prefer otherwise. It is a snapshot of 2019–20; across all households, the share owning outright fell from 41.8% in 1994–95 to 29.5% in 2019–20, and the share of older households owning outright may not stay where it was. How many older Australians there are, and will be, is covered in Fewer Working-Age People per Older Australian and The Next Twenty Years of Ageing. The Demographic Analysis series carries the node readings.
Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.
