Elderly tenant - moral dilemma

Apoorwoman

Do you good people have any advice please?

Elderly friend rents out a house in the next village, but she now lives two counties away. The tenant has been there for around twenty-one years and is now in his mid 80s. He and his mother did live in one of their farm cottages, but when it was due for renovation this, more modern 3 bed house, was purchased and subsequently offered to them for the same rent, which they gladly accepted. Mother died some years ago.

Friend received a call from a social worker advicing that the tenant was being sent to hospital (gangrene) but that the toilet in the house was blocked and needed sorting. Friend rang us for help and we arranged (with the tenants permission) to enter the house with the necessary tradesmen.

I cannot tell you the state we found the house to be in. I confess to being a smoker, but have never seen anything like this. The walls are dark brown, the net curtains are a deep yellow. The bath is full of newspapers dating back over ten years or more, have no idea how he washed. It is on a par with the documentaries screened regarding hoarders. The toilet had obviously been blocked for some time, but he had continued to use it, sorry too much information, but you get the picture.

The social worker also mentioned he had no hot water, this was due to the fact he would not switch it on. The telephone had been disconnected due to it costing money and the only heating he appeared to be using was a very old electric fire which he brought in himself.

He is on HB which he has to top up. Due to this she only charges him £400 pm as her late husband always stressed that this was to be his home for as long as he wanted and she has respected his wishes. The going rate in this particular village would be more in the region of £1100 pm but that is bye the bye.

Friend cannot cope with him returning to the house as frankly he is a danger to himself and she does not need the stress having recently had a heart attack herself and wants to put the place up for auction as we don’t think it would sell on the open market considering the state it is in internally.

Obviously the solution is to officially give him two months notice in the hope that social services will step in and find him sheltered accommodation where he could be looked after. But you can’t really send this notice to his hospital bed and frankly we don’t know what to suggest to her.

The social worker involved has gone on two weeks holiday.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

cloo

I think maybe your friend should talk to CAB and/or a charity for the elderly ando to Shelter about what is likely to happen and best way to proceed? Presumably there's no known family? Tracking down if there are any siblings/nieces/nephews could also be a start.

It is a tough scenario for your friend to deal with, but it sounds like the tenant should not be living on his own.

sevenhills

Apoorwoman wrote: »

Friend cannot cope with him returning to the house as frankly he is a danger to himself and she does not need the stress having recently had a heart attack herself and wants to put the place up for auction as we don’t think it would sell on the open market considering the state it is in internally.

Obviously the solution is to officially give him two months notice in the hope that social services will step in and find him sheltered accommodation where he could be looked after. But you can’t really send this notice to his hospital bed and frankly we don’t know what to suggest to her.

The social worker involved has gone on two weeks holiday.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Speak to the social worker, he will be given a flat, you do read about people staying in hospital for a long time. That may be in his best interests, although he may not choose it, unless pushed.

BrassicWoman

evicition may be the best thing as he is refusing help, and may need a crisis to sort it out

Either way, renting a house is a business. Business head on and serve notice! to the hopsital may in fact be helpful as he will have access to support teams while there.

Mojisola

sevenhills wrote: »

Speak to the social worker

This ^

It sounds as if he not capable of living at home alone any longer.

Pixie5740

Apoorwoman wrote: »

Obviously the solution is to officially give him two months notice in the hope that social services will step in and find him sheltered accommodation where he could be looked after. But you can’t really send this notice to his hospital bed and frankly we don’t know what to suggest to her.

Unless your friend served the tenant with a Section 20 notice when he first moved in or has subsequently asked him to sign an AST agreement she cannot simply give him 2 months notice. He will have an Assured Tenancy and it is very difficult to evict an Assured Tenant.

Rambosmum

If the social worker is on holiday, ask to speak with the duty worker, hey'll be able to see if he's likely to be discharged any time soon. If not, you can wait to speak with his social worker.

xylophone

It may well be that the elderly tenant will be assessed by social services while he is in hospital to determine whether (in terms of health and safety), he can return to his home.

It is likely that it will be determined that he needs a "care package" and it does not sound as though this would be deliverable in the current accommodation.

A residential placement may therefore be arranged by Social Services?

Red-Squirrel_2

If the social worker is not available, you could call the hospital and inform the ward staff that you have seen the way he is living and that it is not safe for him to return to, and that the landlord will be starting eviction proceedings for the tenant's safety.

They should be able to liaise with whoever is covering for the usual social worker, or with somebody else on the team, and start the ball rolling for an assessment.

If you don't know what ward the tenant is on, ask to speak to the safeguarding team. They won't give you any confidential information but they will happily receive any information from you that might help keep this chap safe.

Apoorwoman

Thank you all so much for your advice.

Just heard from my friend that she rang the ward he was in, who informed her that he had been moved to another hospital. She then rang them and was told he is having an operation tomorrow. Naturally, they would not say what for. It is difficult as he does not appear to have any relatives apart from a nephew. We rang the last known phone number for him and the lady said that he had not lived there for ten years and she did not know his whereabouts.

I have mentioned to my friend that she should ring the safeguarding team which she is going to do.

It is just very sad as I know he would not be happy in a home.

Will keep you updated and thank you again for your input.

Red-Squirrel_2

Apoorwoman wrote: »

Thank you all so much for your advice.

Just heard from my friend that she rang the ward he was in, who informed her that he had been moved to another hospital. She then rang them and was told he is having an operation tomorrow. Naturally, they would not say what for. It is difficult as he does not appear to have any relatives apart from a nephew. We rang the last known phone number for him and the lady said that he had not lived there for ten years and she did not know his whereabouts.

I have mentioned to my friend that she should ring the safeguarding team which she is going to do.

It is just very sad as I know he would not be happy in a home.

Will keep you updated and thank you again for your input.

When she rings safeguarding, she needs to be clear that she is phoning to pass on information about somebody that she feels is vulnerable and that she is worried that he might not be safe if he leaves hospital.

Have you taken pictures of the state of the house?