As a chef, Antonio Castro was never given a pension and could never save much for retirement. When he left work he bought a mobile home in Orlando.
But now his lot fees are 80% higher than when he moved there in 2013, grocery prices are skyrocketing, and his Social Security payments are not maintained. Castro, 79, can afford the basics, so he no longer uses air conditioning while sitting outside under a tree in his backyard on hot days. When his car insurance premiums expire, his financial crunch is the most serious.
“I pay my insurance that month, I live just drinking coffee, eating cheese and bread. A month. It’s breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Castro said.
Castro’s struggle against high housing costs is becoming increasingly common for seniors in central Florida, with property values rising rapidly, income stagnant and affordable home opportunities. And continued efforts to reduce federal spending suggest that help in the form of higher benefits or additional rentals or construction subsidies will not come soon.
James Irvine, president of the Association of Homeowners at Starlight Ranch, a mobile home park near the airport where Castro lives, said nearly a third of residents in the 700 home community are seniors in similar financial straits.
“They literally call it one thing that’s left the homeless,” Irvine said.
Like Castro, they rely on social security as their sole retirement income, as about 40% of older Americans do, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security.
However, Social Security has lost 20% of its purchasing power since 2010, the Senior Citizens League said in an August report, leaving many of the country’s many residents “at the edge of financial distress.” The high cost of housing is a key perpetrator, the report said, putting “extreme” stress on the budgets of seniors.
Castro Mobile Home lot fees were $500 a month 12 years ago and are now $900.
Susan Goff, 77, lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Maitland. She had a career in the health insurance industry, but has no pension or savings left, and relies on a social security check that costs $2,500 a month.
After she pays the mortgage and homeowner fees, she has over $1,000 a month for all other expenses.
“I’m really in debt from using my credit card. That’s what keeps me floating. I can’t pay them back,” Groff said. “I’m very worried right now.”
She works part-time for an insurance broker, but he doesn’t always work for her and she’s only guaranteed $100 a month.
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She wanted to rent a second bedroom to earn an income, but her HOA does not allow her to have a roommate. She thought about downsizing, but couldn’t find a lesser apartment than she would pay for her condo.
Her mortgage and HOA fee are combined at $1,350. According to Apartments.com, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Central Florida is $1,588.
With the extra money, she feels isolated at home with two cats.
“I don’t have much money to go out and have lunch with people with friends, like I want to do. My entertainment is TV,” Goff said.
The rising costs of property insurance say it’s difficult to build more affordable homes in Florida.
“Anyone interested in affordable housing needs to resolve the insurance crisis,” said Chris King, a developer at Central Florida who specializes in middle-income housing for adults over 55.
The real estate he developed developed an increase in facial premiums of hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. As a result, he said he is currently focusing on out-of-state projects where insurance prices are not that high.
However, several affordable housing projects have opened, including the new Fern Grove Apartments on Mercy Drive in Orlando.
Farngrove has 138 apartments for residents below the median income of the area. That’s about $65,000. Rents are on a slide scale, with prices ranging from $362 to $1,474 a month.
As soon as it opened, all 138 apartments in Farngrove were rented.
To make apartments affordable, the developers have used federal tax credits that can be used with low-cam housing and zero loans from the city, said Alexander Kiss, managing partner of Banyan Development Group, who built the project.
Kiss said he is confident that he can use it for future projects, despite the new Trump administration trying to cut federal funds.
But the king is doubtful.
“This administration has little or no proof of its desire to advance the causes of affordable housing in more marginalized communities,” he said.
Some seniors are eligible for rental assistance from the U.S. Agency for Housing and Urban Development. Central Florida received $19 million in federal grants in 2024. This helped over 3,000 people, according to Central Florida’s Homeless Services Network, the local agency that manages them.
“The majority of these dollars are paid rent,” said Martha, CEO of the network.
It is said that it is not yet clear whether additional federal funds will be available this year. Her agency submitted an application for a 2025 federal grant, which usually doesn’t respond, but for now there are still replies.
Without funding, there is concern that older people who are struggling more financially will become homeless. The agency counted 191 homeless people over the age of 65 last year, but suspects that the actual number will be high as it is not easy to count people living in from a car.
The area needs developments like the Farn Grove and more help for those struggling to pay for housing bills, she said.
“We need to have more subsidies to not only increase housing stocks, but also to make housing affordable for the lowest income people, especially the elderly and others in these fixed incomes,” he said.
At Starlight Ranch, Irvine and his wife live comfortably. As a history teacher before becoming a pastor, he and his wife are not solely dependent on Social Security, as he needs to withdraw two pensions.
Every day he takes three miles of walks around the park to check in his neighbors.
He persuaded the park owner to help pay for meals at the clubhouse. He also realizes that these dollars aren’t going as well as before. In 2023, the park’s annual Valentine’s Dinner grocery bill was $280. This year, he said, it cost $470.
Ever since Castro learned he struggled to pay car insurance twice a year, Irvine and other neighbors have been making arrangements to bring meals that month.
“If there’s something positive out there coming out of the negativity, this community is looking for each other,” Irvine said.
