One Person Households Predicted to Increase by 26%

Should we be building more one-bedroom homes? The latest figure from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) predicts that by 2041, single person households will increase by 26%.

The main points of the findings by the ONS were:

• The number of one-person households in England is projected to increase by 26% between 2016 and 2041, driven by increases in the number of people aged 65 years and over living on their own
• The number of people aged 90 years and over living on their own is projected to more than double, from 241,000 in 2016 to 588,000 in 2041
• The number of households with dependent children is projected to remain similar between 2016 and 2041, with around a quarter of households having dependent children by 2041
• Almost all the projected increases in households by 2041 will be among one-person and multiple-adult households without dependent children

Joanna Harkrader, of the Centre for Ageing and Demography, Office for National Statistics, comments: “The figures show that the number of people in England living on their own is projected to increase by over a quarter over the next 25 years, driven mostly by increases in the number of older people living alone.

“In contrast, the number of households with dependent children is projected to remain broadly similar. These figures reflect the potential impact of an ageing population and lower numbers of children being born on future living arrangements.”

As an example, new homes available for rent from Tipi, which were due to complete today (10^th December), will offer plenty of one-bedroom apartments. They have created 134 one-bedroom apartments, which is nearly half of the total development (there are 109 two-bedroom homes and 52 three-bedroom homes too).

This could bring further growth in the build to rent sector, where developers are continually looking to tailor new housing for the right target market. For example, the increase of older people, retirees, moving into rented accommodation has been on the rise for the past few years. As such, build to rent developments for older tenants have begun to crop up, with estimates that up to a third of those aged 60 and above could be renting privately by 2040.