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Taiwan has already become a super-aged society. However, despite this, few landlords seem to be willing to rent to older adults, leaving many of them unable to find suitable housing. Reasons for this include Taiwanese taboos about death and general age discrimination. Let’s find out more about how these elderly people are faring.

This place was originally a vegetable market, but the owner later converted it into private room in a shared apartment and rented it them out to elderly people who live alone at a low rent.

Mr. Chiang
Older solo renter
At first, I felt that living in a basement wasn’t a good idea. I did the math and wondered if I could afford to rent an apartment upstairs I couldn’t.

Despite the less-than-ideal living environment, for these vulnerable older adults, simply being able to rent a place is already not easy.

So Hai-yun
Older solo renter
We’re old, and so we can’t find a place to rent anywhere else, even if we have the money.

According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, there are approximately one million people aged 65 and above living alone, of whom 4.5%, or nearly 200,000, rent housing. Having a need for rental housing but being unable to find suitable accommodation has become a difficult situation for many older adults.

Chang Shu-ching
Federation for the Welfare of Taiwan’s Seniors
Landlords often believe that older people are closer to death. They worry that if something happens to an elderly tenant — for example, if ambulances have to come frequently — they’ll constantly have to help deal with the situation. Many landlords simply want to avoid the hassle.

Lu Ping-yi
Tsuei Ma Ma Foundation
The percentage of landlords willing to allow an older adult to view a property is only 0.45%, so the actual transaction rate may be far lower than that.

Taboos surrounding death, age discrimination, and other factors have made older people living alone unwelcome in Taiwan’s rental market. Although the government has introduced measures such as rental management programs and tax incentives to encourage landlords to lease their properties, the results in practice have remained limited.

Lu Ping-yi
Tsuei Ma Ma Foundation
The social housing rental and management policy is similar to rent subsidy policies. Both rest on the foundation of Taiwan’s existing rental market. So, frankly speaking, such policies require the cooperation of landlords and they can be described as “being at the mercy of landlords.”

Because of landlords’ reluctance and the difficulty of implementing policies, older adults living alone are often forced to compromise when searching for housing.

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