Thousands of elderly people who live alone in Greater Manchester are going without central heating amidst the ever-growing cost of living crisis.
Age UK described the findings, which have been released as part of new analysis of census 2021 data by the PA news agency, as being “of tremendous concern” and warned of “potentially serious consequences” for older people’s health and wellbeing.
There were 3.1 million one-person households aged 65 and over in England and Wales on March 21, 2021, the day of the census, and 66,027 of those had no central heating, which is often used as an indicator of deprivation.
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In Greater Manchester, the data found that out of the 148,819 of one-person households aged 65 and over, there were 3,132 homes - around 2.1% - without central heating. In Manchester, 2.9% of the 19,805 such households had no central heating, a figure higher than in Wolverhampton, Southampton and Nottingham.
2.7% (364) of one-person households aged 65 and over in Tameside had no central heating, followed by 2.3% (365) in Bolton and 2.1% in Bury (238) and Stockport (393).
2% (237) households in Rochdale, 1.9% (248) in Trafford and 1.8% (228) in Salford also had no central heating. Oldham (1.6%) at 197 and Wigan (1.5%) at 294 were the city-region’s boroughs with the lowest percentage of one-person households aged 65 without central heating.
Across the UK, some 11 local authority areas recorded at least 4% of people aged 65 and over living alone with no central heating. Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria had the highest proportion at 5.4% (262), followed by Gwynedd in north-west Wales (4.6% or 401), Portsmouth (4.5% or 498), and Pendle in Lancashire (4.4% or 237).
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at older people’s charity Age UK, said: “Having limited money in later life really impacts day-to-day living, exacerbating feelings of loneliness and disconnection from society.
“These figures are of tremendous concern, as older people lacking central heating often find it very difficult to stay warm during the winter months with potentially serious consequences for their health and wellbeing.
“Living alone can make this situation worse as it means that one person’s income has to stretch further to cover the fixed costs of heating a home, and it can, in some cases, lead to social isolation, which can have additional negative consequences.”
Ms Abrahams called on the Government to “make sure that it is prepared for next winter". She added: “Expanding central heating access and providing suitable alternatives to keep older people warm will be absolutely key.”
County Durham, North East Derbyshire and Hart in Hampshire all had the lowest proportion of lone older people without central heating, at 0.7%.
The PA analysis also found that more than 100 local authority areas had at least two-fifths of older people living alone who are disabled. The definition of disabled used by the census is people who have assessed their day-to-day activities as limited by long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses.
Age UK said anyone who is struggling, or their concerned families and friends, can contact its free Age UK advice line on 0800 169 65 65 which is open every day from 8am until 7pm.
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