Supported Living Tenancies and Costs

Annie56

hi
wonder if you good folk can help my friend

brief outline she suffers from bi polar and is on Income Suport and a Disability Premium.
At present she is stabel, has a Psychiatrist and a CPN and her medication is fine.
She lives in a privately rentedflat and has full Housing Benefit and Council Tax Paid. The flat is in a poor condition and her 6 months tenancy has come to an end and the Landlady has just let it roll forward on to a periodic tenancy. Its is cold, shower broken, hot water iffy and storage heaters dont always work.

She applied for a 1 bed flat in a new scheme that has been built and has been granteda tenancy to be signed for on the 8th Nov2010.

The question is the costs of this tenancy in a supported living environment are quite high

£62.45 pw rent

£70.23pw Service charge it says this is for maintenace and running of the scheme, including window cleaning heat and light in communal areas and general running coss and it says that if eligible to claim to claim housing benefot it may be possible that some or all of these costs of the service charge may be covered.

£38.00 per week Well being Support Charge this covers costs of the staff 24 hrs a day and to help her in day to day tasks, daily well bieng call, help to plan and arrangecare and support and a dedcated member of staff to help planning for future care. And that she may be able to claim Supporting People benefit(£17.55p) per wek towards the cost of this service.

They were aware that her income was £91 pw on the pplication form and her bi polar needs and the panel granted her the tenancy...so Im wondering will all the above costs be covered to a point.

Ofcourse she will have to pay her own electric, water rates, tv licence and contents insurance and before she puts her notice in to her preaent Landlady Id be grateful if anyone can clarify if this help is autimatically given or is on a income based basis, she has no savings so needs to know that those charges would be covered as she thinks its expensive compared to her £85 pw rent now...

Hope the above is clear Im of no use on this parts of benefits and was just wondering if anyone knew about the help available, the front line staff seem to think she would just have to pay about £25pw towards these charges..but Im nt os osure
Many thanks ...

fluffymovie

Hi

Supporting people should step in to cover the support costs but the other service charges such as communal heating etc will be covered by hb.

In my LA supporting people work from my council but in others, it's dealt with by the county council. If the landlord has other schemes like this, they should know how to apply for the funding but if you google supporting people, it may help you find the relevant people in your area

zzzLazyDaisy

She should ask advice of the prospective landlord. As you say, they are aware of her financial situation, and will be used to supporting people on benefits.

There isn't enough support for people with mental illness, and if your friend is one of the lucky ones, good luck to her x

Annie56

thank you both for your kind and helpful replies, she was worried that the offer of the teancy was to good to be true...

her present flat is part furnished and I went with her to look at this new flat, itsa lovley but needs 2 rooms carpeted and also help with moving costs...when she moved into her present flat we all rallied round and helped out but in this present financial clime we cant help this time...she applied for a Budgeting Loan the last time she moved for help with removal fees and some furniture and they basically told her to shove off...and she didnt fufill the criteria for a Community Care Grant, I did want her to appeal but she said to leave it as when she has appealed in the past they make out she is begging....but Im sure things will work out for her

Many thanks for your kind replies
Annie56

zzzLazyDaisy

Join up to your local freegle/freecycle. People give away good carpets all the time. When I moved into my house I gave away a lounge carpet that was almost brand new, but not to my taste. The young man who collected it was almost in tears he was so grateful - he'd just moved into his first flat and had no carpets.

People will rally round, please don't let that put her off taking the tenancy.

dmg24

Is the service charge really £70 per week? This is incredibly high, especially for a rented property. I would be asking for a breakdown of what that amount covers.

payless

HB will often pay service charges when a certian level of support is also provided ( justified)

re the £17 pw supporting people benefit ... no such thing, but provider may well have a SP contract and be claiming so much per hour. ( surprised if only offering 1 hr pw )

If this leaves £20pw personal contribution .. seems a bit higher than average

Annie56

hi dmg24

in the bumph it says Service charge £70.23 per week

"QUOTE"

tHIS IS THE SERVICE CHARGE FOR THE MAINTENACE AND RUNNING OF THE SCHEME INCLUDING WINDOW CLEANING, GARDEN AND BUILDING MAINTENANCE,WATER LIGHT AND HEAT FOR THE COMMUNAL AREAS, CLEANING OF THE COMMUNAL AREAS AND GENERAL RUNNING COSTS"

this scheme is an over 55s extra care home newly built and had communal areas a shop hairdressers and a cafe bar and a laundry too and a 24hr manned reception security system, the new flats are brilliant, thats why friend thought that they might be aimed at folk over 55 who had retired early and had money in the bank and pensioners that had a good private pension...she is 54, single and was surprisesd that they gave her a tenancy and still thinks there is something going to go wrong..

its is a 87 flat complex 70 for renting and 17 for part/buy/rent...is lovley place to be honest...

dmg24

I would definitely seek further advice on whether the LA will pay the full service charge, as it is very high. To put in into perspective, tenants in the apartment blocks on the development where I live pay less than half that, with the only difference being that they do not have a manned reception. I would also do some research on who the managing company are, as some (though certainly not all) should be avoided. It really frustrates me that schemes which should help people can end up being primarily motivated by profit - hopefully this is not one of them.

fluffymovie

Some HA have very high service charges and at my previous authority, the manager is actually taking the issue to the tribunal service as charges were set at 65% higher than the previous year!!!

There has been a very recent commissioners decision on this too.

The LA can ask for a breakdown of service charges if they have concerns and can refer the rent to the valuation office if they believe them excessive. However it is a high charge although I do have properties with support for which we pay over 233 pounds a week.

She needs to very careful about the date she moves in also as hb will only pay for the period after she moves in and if she needs to ask for hb on two homes, waiting for furniture or carpets is not considered reasonable

Annie56

Thank you dmg24 and fluffymovie for your answers...

Went with her to give the place another look over this afternoon and it really is a lovley comples, the charges are high but will check these out in the morning that she is eligible for all the help the HA says she is..

Then she can put in her notice to her present Landlord and go sign her new tenancy with this HA on Nov 8th...her old LL is paid 2 weeks in advance and has her deposit of £200 to give back so that should cover her carpet costs, its just a bed and a cooker thats needed but Im sure we will sort this out...many thanks for your kind replies, lets hope this bodes well, we have at all dealings with this HA stated her income and health needs, I just hope they have got there facts right and I will double check these tommorow....
Once again many thanks

Annie56