Independent Age

Inadequate housing and fuel poverty among older people in Scotland are among the reasons the Scottish Government must appoint an Older People’s Commissioner (OPC) or risk people in later life in Scotland being ‘left behind’, according to a new report from Independent Age.

Fuel poverty rates in Scotland increased to 31% of all households in 2022, of which more than 18% were in extreme fuel poverty, the latest Scottish House Condition Survey has found.

On the day that Independent Age launches its new research report on how to improve the lives of older renters, Scotland policy and public affairs manager Debbie Horne writes exclusively for Scottish Housing News about the charity's call for greater protections. Today at Independent Age we launch our

Older Scottish renters living on a low income urgently need greater protections in the upcoming Housing Bill, according to Independent Age amid a new report into the reality of renting in later life in Scotland.

Older people’s financial hardship charity Independent Age has urged the Scottish Government to include plans for a pensioner poverty strategy in its upcoming Programme for Government. Around one in seven pensioners in Scotland are in poverty, a number that has risen by a quarter in the la