Living in a privately rented home is linked to more rapid biological ageing, according to researchers who tested DNA and found the tenure is associated with twice the ageing effect of obesity and half that of smoking.
The peer-reviewed study of 1,420 UK householders found housing circumstances can “get under the skin” with significant consequences for health, said academics at the University of Essex and the University of Adelaide . Their findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Falling repeatedly into arrears and exposure to pollution were also linked to faster biological ageing – the cumulative damage to the body’s tissues and cells, irrespective of actual age.
The study tracked a process called methylation in people who are part of the ongoing UK Household Longitudinal Survey. Methylation is regarded as a fundamental mechanism that drives human ageing.
About 5m households live in privately rented accommodation in the UK – a a figure that has doubled in the last 20 years. Costs are higher, conditions are worse and tenure is more precarious than in owner-occupied housing or socially rented housing.
The study concluded: “Our finding that tenure is associated with faster ageing at nearly half the rate of that associated with current smoking and twice that with obesity suggests that our results may have clinical significance.
“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.”
The impact of renting in the private sector, as opposed to outright ownership, was almost double that of being out of work rather than being employed.
As an observational study, the research was not able to determine what is causing the link between housing tenure and biological ageing, and the DNA samples analysed so far were only from white, European householders.
But the good news for renters is that the process is reversible and “improving or changing the conditions for people with faster biological ageing can correct this”, the authors state.
By contrast, the study found that despite the stigmatisation associated with social renting, it was not found to differ from outright ownership in terms of association with biological ageing. Social renting is typically lower cost and offers greater security of tenure than private renting. The authors stressed that the DNA methylation-derived measures are relatively new and more data will be collected to assess how biological ageing markers change over time.
Private renters typically live in worse conditions that other householders, with greater problems such as cold, damp and disrepair. The English Housing Survey estimated that in 2021, 23% of private rented homes did not meet the Decent Home Standard, compared with 13% of owner-occupied and 10% of social-rented homes.
Responding to the study, Dan Wilson Craw, the deputy chief executive of the campaign group Generation Rent, said: “Our home is so important to our health. Uncertainty about how long we can live somewhere is stressful, while disrepair and damp conditions make us physically ill. Private renters, who face the threat of arbitrary eviction and live in the worst quality housing, are particularly vulnerable to poor health as a result. As more older people have no option but to rent, policymakers need to act urgently.”
