Housing Advice/ideas for friend

waveneygnome

Hoping for some advice/ideas for a friend.

a) Friend rents 3bed council flat, single mum, 5 children (2 just left home after Uni although come back home often; 1 at Uni; 2 at high school aged 16 & 18). Been sole tenant for past 14 yrs.

b) Friend just been diagnosed with terminal illness - 3 to 6 months life expectancy. (Currently in hospital receiving treatment). I am working on POA forms with 1 of the children. We have guardianship set up for the under 18 yr old.

c) I have spoken to local council about tenancy arrangements once the worst happens. They have said they would pass tenancy onto 1 of the children (18yr old), but only do this once - i.e. when the 18 yr old goes off to Uni, hopefully this September = lose tenancy....not sure what happens to 16 yr old(?) possibly into care system whilst still at high school (?).

d) Assuming the 3 younger children (still at Uni/School) all go to Uni, if they lose the home from this September, they will have no-where to return to during holidays. (I have of course offered them to stay round my house during this holiday time)

e) Council have said they won't transfer the tenancy to youngest child (16 yrs) as she's too young - this would at least have helped delay the relinquishing of their home another couple of years.

I have tried calling Shelter for advice, but they said they cannot help as they can only advise on cases where they can reclaim legal aid, and given that they are in no immediate danger of being homeless, they have other priorities, which is fair enough.

I have tried the local CAB, but they referred me to Shelter and said they couldn't help further.

I have been fortunate in my life and never needed the services of CAB/Shelter council housing/benefit system so feel a bit out of my depth. Where else can I go to get advice to talk things through?

I have seriously considered looking at the RTB route (the friend/children have little/no money). I could lend interest free the money to my friend/the children, they could buy the flat, they could use it until all finished Uni (5 yrs time), either move back into the flat when finished Uni (which may be an option for 1 of them) or sell the flat & return the purchase price to me. (I'm not looking to profit/gain anything from the transaction, other than to know they kept onto their home during there period of need). I am not a fan of RTB, but this solution could help 5 young people get a start in life.

LittleMax

Gosh - how very sad. And what a great friend you are.

It is not common for 16 year olds to have a tenancy but it is possible. I'm not sure who you have spoken to at the council - but you need to try to speak to someone more knowledgable. I would also involve your local councillor.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/48510/Good_Practice-Tenancies_for_Minors.pdf Paragraph on succession applies.

Person_one

This is a really sad situation.

Is the 18 year old likely to still want to go to uni in September? Is it likely that they may want to stay close to home and their younger sibling at least for now?

carefullycautious

The worlds gone mad.:(


On another thread you have a selfish couple who are trying to use the right to buy to purchase their flat fraudulently when they have another property they live in 250 miles away and now this


3 young teenagers who are not only going to loose their mum but potentially their home too. I would talk with their local MP and maybe children's services to see what help is available. Would child line have any info/help to offer?

camptownraces

Going off to university for 10 weeks at a time does not make "university" into a student's permanent home. In fact halls of residence have strange letting contracts which would bar this.

So, I think the council have got it wrong in this respect. The 18 year old would still have the family home as his permanent home.

Nevertheless, it's not a good idea for a 16 year old to live alone. The best arrangement might be for one of the older kids to come back to be with the youngest one.

They are probably so engrossed with Mum at the moment that they can't see past the inevitable. So while it's good that OP has their interests at heart, the family can't be pushed into a decision yet, and probably won't want to discuss the matter.

Stbridig

Yes I think you need a social worker. Usually the hospital or hospice where your friend is being treated should have a social worker as part of the team ask to see them urgently.
Really terrible story glad you are there for them all.

pennyprincess

Yes was going to say you should be able to keep house as main residence whilst at Uni but that would mean paying two sets of rent whilst living in halls if she chooses to do that ..also for future have a look at Frank Buttle trust which offers funding at uni for those who have come out of the care system to stay in accommodation 52 weeks a year. Echo the need for social advice ...bless you for being a wonderful friend

LittleMax

The reason that student's can't usually take on a tenancy is that full time students can't claim housing benefit to help with the rent, as opposed to it not being their main residence. However the 16 year old would be dependent on them so they should still be able to claim. It is an unusual and complex issue - hence you need to speak to someone in authority at the Council as it will be beyond the usual that the customer service team and even most housing officers are used to dealing with.

GobbledyGook

I think you need to go higher at the council, perhaps get the MP involved. There must be a way to ensure that the children don't lose their home, especially when the older children at uni don't have another permanant home - that is home. That said is someone going to live in the house with the 16 year old? It's very young to be alone after losing their Mum.

Also make sure the 18yo knows all of the rules and regs surrounding uni deferral because if Mum potentially has 6 months then you could be talking about September/October time to be still dealing with things which might mean they can't (or don't want to) go this year.

[Deleted User]

At the moment it is going to be very difficult for anyone in the family to know what they are going to want to do in 3-6 months time.., let alone in the years following the death of their mother.

Please consider doing as already suggested and seeing if there is any social work or bereavement help at the hospital concerned with care of their mother.

There might also be help from charities that focus on the condition that is affecting their mother.

Is there any hope of help from the father (sorry if that's an inappropriate question but its worth thinking about)?

What an awful situation. Sorry I can't help more x x x x

waveneygnome

Thanks for all the replies.

a) I have spoken to the 18yr old to see if they would defer Univ for another yr........they are thinking about it (hadn't occured to them before).....however I am conscious that this young adult had to re-sit 1 year of A levels - so in their mind are already 1 yr behind there peers.

b) I have spoken to social services, they checked & the family are not known to them. They gave me the option of raising a concern/allegation - which they would then investigate - but I'm not sure this is the best route to go down at this point.

c) I have spoken to the ward sister at the hospital, and she is going to make some inquiries about what advice/help is out there.

d) No Father around, passed away 6 yrs ago.

e) I spoke to the council again this morning, and they were adamant that they would not pass tenancy onto the younger child. I have forwarded onto them the link from Shelter. In addition, due to the flat being 3 beds, IF they did pass tenancy onto younger child, they would re-assess and move her out to a 1 bed place. The person I spoke to was very sympathetic, but said the pressure from others on the housing list meant they couldn't justify leaving 1 person in a 3 bed flat. Which I can see their point of view also. The council couldn't comment further until something actually happened (i.e. mother passes), and then they would act to the circumstances at that time.

I think the family (& I) are looking for more certainty about the path ahead at this difficult time.

h) Thanks deannatrois - I hadn't thought about charities. I tracked down a charity in London (covering mothers illness) this morning also, and they have a caseworker that covers our area, and will call me back.

Thanks again for kind thoughts.