60-year-old Becomes Red Line, Chinese Elderly Struggle to Rent Houses Trending

On March 26, a news story from China titled “Rejected 20 Times in 3 Days for Renting a House for 65-Year-Old Mother and Elderly Grandmother” went viral, shedding light on the difficulties elderly people face in the rental housing market. It has been reported that in China, 60 years old has become a red line for renting.

According to the report from “News Morning” on March 26, a netizen posted that in an effort to rent a house for their 65-year-old mother and elderly grandmother, they visited more than 20 real estate agencies in three days but none of the landlords were willing to rent to them. 80% of the agencies straightforwardly told them it was “basically impossible”, and they couldn’t even get to the stage of communicating with the landlords. Only two agencies were willing to take them for house viewings, but none of the properties met their requirements.

One agent told them that if the landlord was not local, they would hide the fact that the two elderly people would be living there. However, this posed a significant risk – if the neighbors found out and told the landlord, they could be evicted.

According to the news outlet “Shangguan News” on March 26, based on the “Fifth National Investigation Report on the Living Conditions of Elderly Urban and Rural Residents in China”, the proportion of elderly people living alone in China has reached 14.2%, with nearly 20% relying on renting for housing solutions. However, in reality, many elderly people face rejection from agencies, indifference from landlords, and age restrictions in contracts. Surveys in cities like Beijing and Shanghai show that over two-thirds of real estate agencies impose restrictions on people over 60, requiring “children to co-sign the lease” or outright refusal.

Phoenix Finance Network stated that in China, 60 years old has become a red line for renting.

Under the pretext of helping elderly family members find rental housing, the Phoenix Network visited dozens of real estate agencies in Beijing’s Haidian, Xicheng, and Chaoyang districts. Around 30% of the agencies mentioned that “it’s very difficult to rent for those over 60/65 years old, landlords are afraid of incidents happening at home and property depreciation.” Age restrictions such as “those over 40 cannot share a rental, and those over 60 cannot rent independently” are spreading in the rental markets of cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

“News Morning” cited a netizen who shared their experience of rejecting a tenant in their 50s who wanted to rent for 5 years, realizing it was for their elderly family members and refusing, saying, “Honestly, emotionally I sympathize with these elderly people, but rationally we understand we can’t rent to them. Not renting to the elderly is because we fear potential disputes and liabilities if something happens to them in the house, we’d rather leave it vacant than deal with issues.”

Many netizens expressed empathy, acknowledging that as landlords, not renting to elderly people is understandable as nobody wants trouble. Some shared their own experiences of being unable to rent for their elderly family members, ending up having to buy a rundown property for them.

In response, Shangguan News analyzed that the deeper contradiction of elderly people struggling to find rentals lies in the structural imbalance of the rental housing market. Current rental properties mainly target young people with scarce designs suitable for aging individuals. Lack of lower floors, barrier-free access, emergency call systems, together with landlords of new housing complexes avoiding elderly tenants due to “risk aversion”. In this mismatch between supply and demand, the elderly are caught between “old rundown properties” and “rental refusals”. As China faces profound aging, there is a need to reshape social perceptions and change the mindset towards aging.

Although many netizens expressed discontent towards landlords refusing to rent to the elderly, the majority understood the landlords’ actions. Some netizens believe that authorities should take responsibility to ensure elderly people can live out their twilight years in comfort.