New figures out this morning show that the over-50s are becoming a larger part of the rental market. 

So far this year this demographic has accounted for 15 of Countrywide’s rented households, up from just 11 per cent in 2012. 

Nearly a third of the over-50s are in fact pensioners.

The agency estimates that this year over-50s have rented 791,580 homes in Great Britain, no less than 61 per cent more than in 2012 and 8.2 per cent more than last year.  

This means that £1 in every £7 paid by tenants in Great Britain now comes from a tenant aged over 50, compared to £1 in every £9 spent in 2012.

Perhaps surprisingly the South East has the highest proportion of older renters, where 19 per cent of tenants are over 50.  

The South West (16 per cent), North West (also 16 per cent) and Wales (15 per cent) follow.  

Meanwhile the East of England, London and Yorkshire and Humber all have 11 per cent.

During the last 12 months the average tenant over 50 paid three per cent more than other tenants; most of these older tenants choose two or three bedroom properties. Only 19 per cent live in a one-bedroom home.

Across Great Britain as a whole 48 per cent of tenants over 50 live alone.

The calculations have been made by Countrywide’s high-end brand Hamptons International and is based on an adjusted assessment of 90,000 homes let and managed by Countrywide in each year.