Statistics compiled by Scottish Labour revealed the number of permanently retired adults living in the private rented sector has gone from 20,000 to 40,000 in the last 10 years.

In 2017, a Scottish Widows report found that renters planning to retire in 15 years’ time need to save an additional £525 every month into their pension to cover increasing housing costs. 

Scottish Labour’s housing spokesperson Pauline McNeill said this is particularly worrying given recent statistics showing that that the cost of private rented housing has soared above inflation in many parts of the country.

Scotland was recently found to have a higher pensioner poverty rate than the rest of the UK by the Social Metric Commission. 

Ms McNeill said: “Scotland’s housing crisis is deepening, and it is a crisis not just facing young people.

“Around 40,000 retired adults are now forced to privately rent, eating away at their pension and risking being pushed into poverty.”