Can the council do this?

mazz1953

My friend's 47-year old son was found dead on Wednesday in his council flat and as you can imagine she is very upset. She has now been told by the council that the flat must be cleared by Sunday or she will be personally responsible for another week's rent. Can the council really do this, as I think that this is a bit heartless and maybe she should be allowed another week to sort it all out. What are the conventions regarding what happens with the flat/house after a council tenant dies?

I would be grateful for any advice that I can get to help my friend!!!

Mant thanks

red

i think going to a Citizen's Advice Bureau would be a good starting point...

why is your friend responsible for her son's rent? the tenancy should be between the council and her son and so should not leave her exposed either way...that said, she may have personal items that could be destroyed if she does not try to arrange to sort it out.

if it is possible, i would recommend getting a relocation company to move everything into storage - they will box everything and take it all to wherever she wants - either place it all in a garage or spare room or even a storage depot (many offer £1 for the first month) and then when she has had some time she can go through it all...

jane130

i know when my gran passed away we had 1 month to clear her belongings - that was 18 years ago though so it may have changed .

mazz1953

Hello,

My friend's son had mental health problems and couldn't work, so he was on Housing Benefit. She also needed to get into the flat to get hold of his mobile, so she could notify his CPN and his friends of his death, so the council gave her the keys and I wonder if that is the problem.

tbs624

There is usually a 4 week notice period but payment of HB/LHA ends on the first Sunday after a tenant dies and the rent has to be paid until the property is cleared and the keys are handed back in. It is usual for this rent to be paid out of the Ts estate, together with any rent arrears.

Check with Community Legal Advice, CAB or Shelter for further confirmation.

mad_bad_spender

tbs624 wrote: »

There is usually a 4 week notice period but payment of HB/LHA ends on the first Sunday after a tenant dies and the rent has to be paid until the property is cleared and the keys are handed back in. It is usual for this rent to be paid out of the Ts estate, together with any rent arrears.

Check with Community Legal Advice, CAB or Shelter for further confirmation.

Agree with tbs: the housing benefit will only cover up to Sunday. so the council will be looking for the rent to be paid and this would normally come from estate, i would think that she should only have to prove that there is no money or estate left by her son to get them off her back, she herself should not be accountable for this..


do wish the councils would see sense in this and allow a free week or two. after all an unexpected death can be hard to get over and the last thing you would want is to go in there and have to go through things so early on

mind you the words council and sense do not go together unless accompanied by the words NO and COMMON

theartfullodger

She has now been told by the council that the flat must be cleared by Sunday or she will be personally responsible for another week's rent.

Surely any now he has died his estate is responsible for any further debts, and not someone the bl***in council decided should pay.. Their behaviour is disgraceful...

In her shoes I'd advise them either she can clear the place in a reasonable timescale (say a month) or if that is not satisfactory they can do it themselves...

Very sorry this has happened..

Lodger

roger196

I would ring the council's press office / public relations department / chief executive's secretary asking whether they really really want an article in the local press about the council's heartless behaviour. Especially in the run up to Xmas....evictions from the stable and all that.

savingmummy

Sorry to hear of your friends loss how very sad
I think all councils are different, my nan passed away last November and they family had a month to sort the council house out before they ould have to pay rent.
A neighbour of my mums passed aay in oct this year and her family had to pay full rent and full council tax until the keys were handed over.

I hope she manages to get a better timescale x

Shelldean

When my nan passed in May 2007, she was also on HB. She died on the Saturday of the bank hol wk/end. I notified the council the following Wenesday once we actually had copies of the death cert ( had to wait as it was an unexpected death so had to have coroners report)
The bloke in the council was lucky my sis didn't punch his lights out. Nasty little jobsworth, he could see we was very upset, as we'd just registered death and been to funeral home. Yet rather than deal with us in private ( they do have rooms) he just dealt with us at front desk and told us we had till the following Monday , and if we wasn't out by then then WE'd be liable for full rent. Nan's funeral wasn't even until the following week!!!
We Kept the keys for 4wks while we sorted out Nans stuff. ( took this long as we both have young children, live a distance away and don't drive) I then handed keys back. They kept their word and sent the bill, I called them and told them to BOG off well I was slightly more polite. They di try for full rent( no housing benefit) Told them it was my Nan's debt and as she'd died without any assets, they couldn't have what she didn't have!!! Said the same thing to councils clearing dept who had the flaming cheek to send a bill for over £1400 to remove the last few items that we couldn't move. One sofa, one cooker and one wardrobe!!! The cheeky beggars took photos of the stuff they'd had to remove, the photos included a shot of the stairs with the heavy yellow pages on it ( we'd left that for the next tenant) plus the pile of empty boxes that we'd left by back door in error, instead of putting into recycling!!!!!! Oh and funny enough not one photo of the brand new cooker which we couldn't find a home for, so we'd left with full instructions.

They did chase me once for the clearance debt but I just repeated that Nan had died with no assests, they then left me alone.

What made it worse was the fact the kept on about needing the house, yet didn't advertise it till late July, keys handed back late June. And no one mover in until October.
You friend should be allowed reasonable time to clear the accomodation, but I do believe any owing rent is due from any estate the deceased may have.

CIS

A neighbour of my mums passed aay in oct this year and her family had to pay full rent and full council tax until the keys were handed over.

If there was no one else resident in the property then full council tax isn't due - a Class F exemption from Council Tax should have been awarded from the date of death (unless the tenany was immediately signed over to another person).