Spike in elderly living on the edge in Bay

Tauranga Budget Advisory Service has experienced a 20 per cent increase over the past year in the number of desperate elderly clients seeking help.

Manager Diane Bruin said her clients often felt too proud to ask for help and, in many cases, thought there was someone else who needed help more.

However, she had helped elderly clients manage bankruptcy caused by credit cards and other high interest debt. The office had also helped people caught up in scam cases.

Some elderly were living day to day, she said.

Some of the service's clients had been unable to find a job after moving to the Bay and ended up living off their pension which was not enough to meet their expenses.

The Salvation Army released a report into homelessness this week, predicting an estimated 30 to 35 per cent of future retirees would rent their retirement home and likely need assistance.

Ms Bruin said the report highlighted the fact many people now needed to work beyond their retirement age, often to pay off debt.

Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty Grey Power president Christina Humphreys said the organisation was inundated with pensioners struggling to find affordable accommodation.

"It's very much a worry," she said.

"A lot of rentals, the owners have sold them because they feel they don't get enough rent. There are so many people wanting to buy a house so there are fewer to rent. And there are a lot [of pensioners] who haven't paid their mortgage off so they end up renting. That's not good.

"It's either that or in a caravan at some caravan park. It's awful."

The Salvation Arm report states that up to 33,000 extra rental properties will be needed in the North Island to meet the swelling demand from retiring Baby Boomers in the next few years.

Report author Alan Johnson recommended the Government undertake action, including an urgent review into the current Accommodation Supplement, and developing an intervention programme to limit the risk of those in late middle age and early old age becoming homeless due to financial hardship, relationship breakdown and health problems.

The Ministry of Social Development was unable to say how many people in this situation lived in the Bay of Plenty or Tauranga before the paper went to print last night.

The Commission for Financial Capability, formerly the Retirement Commission, was also unable to comment before publication.

As of September, 683,899 people were receiving a pension in New Zealand.