Unique way retirees are beating cost-of-living crunch

Retired best friends Lynne and Jill have been housemates for more than a decade and say it’s allowed them to split their expenses and beat cost-of-living pressures.

Lynne, 71, and Jill, 87, met when they were neighbours in Sydney’s south-west more than 23 years ago.

The pair were both living alone at the time and decided to pool their resources and become housemates.

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"I was getting a little bit lonely. I'm thinking, ‘Well, maybe. We get along really well, I wonder if Jill would be open to maybe sharing’. So, we had a talk about it. She jumped in and said, ‘Yes’,” Lynne, who is grandmother and mum of three, told A Current Affair.

The pair ended up building a home together, which they lived in for more than a decade, before moving into a retirement village.

With many Aussies getting hit with rising costs, Lynne and Jill said living together had financial benefits and meant they could save the taxpayer money by not relying on aged care.

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"It's so much cheaper to split everything so we're just exceptionally lucky to be living the way that we are living, to do what we do. This beautiful place with lovely people in it, what else do you want in life?" Lynne said.

When the pair aren’t at home, they are busy travelling the world together. They have visited roughly 30 countries together and are headed to the Maldives next.

"It's very lovely to be able to share a house with her and have no problems ... no arguments and it's worked out really well over the last 23 years,” Jill said.

The best friends plan to stick by each other's sides until the end, even buying their cemetery plots together.

Older Aussies turn to share houses

While typically associated with younger people, the number of older Aussies turning to shared accommodation is now on the rise.

A recent Flatmates.com.au survey of more than 10,300 people across Australia found those aged 55 to 64 were the fastest-growing demographic on their platform over the past year (up 21 per cent). This was followed by those aged 65 to 74 (up 13 per cent).

Rising costs are pushing people into share-house living, with almost half (48 per cent) of those surveyed saying the primary reason they are living in share accommodation is because they cannot afford to live on their own.

“Share accommodation is a long-term and legitimate way to live for many Australians and, until more homes are built to keep up with the demand for rentals, we expect share accommodation to remain popular,” Flatmates.com.au community manager Claudia Conley said.

A competitive rental market is also adding pressure for tenants, with Domain finding the vacancy rate is still at an all-time low.

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