A newly published study has found that renting privately is related to faster biological ageing, with researchers claiming that the impact of private renting is greater than the impact of experiencing unemployment.
Researchers from Essex University and Adelaide University conducted the research, published on Tuesday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, which found that the stress linked to renting has a negative impact on health.
Authors of the study said that findings demonstrated the potential epigenetic impacts of housing. Compared with other social determinants, such as unemployment, housing problems are “associated with a greater impact on ageing, indicating that improving housing should be a target of health interventions,” they said.
“When we include historical housing circumstances in the analysis, we find that repeated housing arrears and exposure to pollution/environmental problems are also associated with faster biological ageing,” academics noted.
The study explained that factors such as cold, overcrowding, and mould can damage the body’s cells and tissues, in turn increasing the risk of age-related diseases such as cancer and dementia. In addition to unemployment, authors also said the impact of private renting was greater than the impact of being a former smoker versus a never smoker.
Scientists took blood samples from 1,420 adults who took part in the UK Household Longitudinal Study, which collects detailed information on housing over a timeframe of several years. Researchers then measured levels of several different chemicals in the blood that are indicative of DNA changes showing a person’s “biological age” – the decrease in function of the body’s cells and tissues, regardless of the person’s actual age.
They discovered that those who lived in rented homes were found to accrue this biological damage faster than those who owned their own home. Those who reported things like leaking roofs, pollution, damp mould, overcrowding, or routinely struggling to pay rent aged even faster, according to the research.
The study said that those living in social housing seemed to have a better outcome, which perhaps could be attributed to lower cost and the security provided.
Urging for policy change, authors said: “Our results suggest that challenging housing circumstances negatively affect health through faster biological ageing. However, biological ageing is reversible, highlighting the significant potential for housing policy changes to improve health.”
Dr Amy Claire, lead author, said that housing policy changes can improve health – stating that biological ageing is reversible
“DNA methylation [biological ageing] is reversible, suggesting that improving or changing the conditions for people with faster biological ageing can correct this, and health effects be mitigated or reversed,” she said, adding: “Therefore housing policy changes can improve health.”.
“Policies to reduce the stress and uncertainty associated with private renting, such as ending no-fault evictions, limiting rent increases and improving conditions, may go some way to reducing the negative impacts of private renting,” she said.
“Greater support with housing costs and restrictions on increasing housing costs may protect people from housing arrears and its health consequences,” she added.
Census data published in July showed a significant increase in the number of older people renting in Ireland, with average weekly rent surging by 37 per cent between 2016 and 2022, to €273.
Those aged 65 and over living in rental accommodation nationally jumped by 83 per cent from the 2016 census to the 2022 census, at almost 17,000 households.