How can I help them...

pmlindyloo

Horseunderwater wrote: »

PIP not applicable as they have to have lived here at least 2 full years in past 3 I think it is. I looked it up earlier today.

Yes, you're right - I'd forgotten that.

I believe, as regards a lot of benefits this is being challenged if the claimant previously lived in another EEA country- ie. that period of residence counts towards residence in Great Britain.

(Not suggesting the OP does challenge it - I think they have enough on their plate at the moment)

Pity for them because MIL couldn't claim CA without her OH being awarded PIP.

jacques_chirac

pmlindyloo wrote: »

May be wrong but I suspect that the £69 a week HB is because MIL's salary is being taken into account at the moment.

Would be surprised if that amount was the LHA for a one bed place.

You're wrong - as they have an entitlement to IB ESA they will be in receipt of the full LHA rate. Five miles north of me the rate is £69.23 per week, so it is certainly not unheard of.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Pity for them because MIL couldn't claim CA without her OH being awarded PIP.

Given MIL's current state, she is hardly in a position to be caring for someone else.

pmlindyloo

jacques_chirac wrote: »

You're wrong - as they have an entitlement to IB ESA they will be in receipt of the full LHA rate. Five miles north of me the rate is £69.23 per week, so it is certainly not unheard of.

OK, OK, I realise that now! Comes of living in the SE - totally not au fait with such low rates.

Given MIL's current state, she is hardly in a position to be caring for someone else.

You might be right. However, if her current position is caused through worry/stress (after all she has been working recently) as soon as things are 'sorted' she may be back on the road to full health.

Plus, amazing how people on DLA manage to claim CA for other people on DLA even when they both have care needs.

sovilla

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jacques_chirac

pmlindyloo wrote: »

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Plus, amazing how people on DLA manage to claim CA for other people on DLA even when they both have care needs.

Isn't it just - you'd wonder what would happen if they were ever compliance checked!

sulkisu

sovilla wrote: »

MIL earns £103 a week. The house they rent is actually a 2 bed ground floor flat. Which is £440. We live in Hull and the 1 bed LHA is £69.23 per week. A lot of the places in our area are at least £400 a month. They are not entitled to council housing as not deemed a priority, but if they were the only places available are in high rise flats which are kinda scary to live in to be honest.

They can't get DLA/PIP as not been in the country long. And they actually took a lump sum out of father in laws pension to buy the villa in Turkey in the first place so not sure they can take anything out of it but I will ask.

While living in Turkey they were not allowed to work, in Turkey the jobs are for the Turkish so they didn't actually earn an income, they were just living off their savings.

They will be moving back in with us when their contract runs out and hopefully they can save some money. We will try and find them a cheap flat and I've said we will try and pay some of their rent for them in return for them picking our kids up from school.

Once they are with us we can maybe apply to the council due to overcrowding and see what happens.

My other worry is that we rent to and not sure what our landlord would say about them moving in. Hopefully they won't get to find out.

Moving them in with you will not make you a priority for council housing - you will be deemed to have overcrowded yourselves. Otherwise everyone could/would do that.

I have checked a few sites and there are 1 bedroom properties available in Hull for less than £400 pcm.

sovilla

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earthbound_misfit

jacques_chirac wrote: »

Isn't it just - you'd wonder what would happen if they were ever compliance checked!

It does seem odd but on reflection there's quite a few circumstances where I could see this happening... especially if one person has a physical condition and one a mental condition. Hmm.

To the OP: don't endanger your tenancy (if you feel that's an issue) and have them stay a long time. If they have to leve their current home and stay with you temporarily DO NOT see it as them 'living with you'; they would be technically homeless and TEMPORARILY staying with you. This means they will be higher priority housing-wise.

Also, with FIL's medical issues, can you get medical evidence which would make him higher housing priority? Eg. if he forgets things, is it important to have him in a stable, familiar home environment? A good idea is to check out the descriptors for social housing priority bands used in you area - here.

Being unable to pay the rent puts them at risk of homelessness; so they need to go and speak to someone in the council housing depertment and see if "risk of homelessness" boosts them up the list at all. Also to get advice on what to do - if they choose to leave the property they might be considered "intentionally homeless" and not eligible for housing at all. Perhaps a letter from the landlord asking them to leave when their tenancy is up might help here.

A general word of advice - sickness and disabililty benefits have become significantly harder to claim/be eligible for in the last 6 years. All the goalposts have moved and claimants need to be one step ahead of the game in providing medical evidence etc. Look for advice on all this stuff!

Oh also with regards MIL's difficulties, just making sure she has someone to talk to/doesn't feel so trapped (it is so easy to feel there's no way out, esp. with the benefit changes) will help a little, but also ask about IAPT (improving access to psychological therapies) in your area. They do basic CBT (cognitive behavoiural therapy) which I normally slag off but might be helpful in this situation. It's done direct via GP referral, not secondary mental health services.

Grr, so frustrating that the government are actually causing mental health problems by these changes... surely more expensive in the long run?!

ETA: Also look for private rentals - if it's likely they can find a cheaper one that's the best bet for now.

skintandscared_2

If he bought the villa outright how did he end up losing the whole value of it?! They should have been able to sell it and have the proceeds to live off, surely?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Have they tried applying for Discretionary Housing Payments to try and make up the shortfall even for a few months while they look for smaller and cheaper alternative accommodation?