From council to private rental

Yorkshire.Lass

I'm not sure if this is the right area or even right forum, so please excuse any mistake.

My 62 year old mother is considering giving up a secure tenancy with the council and seeking out a private rental. This is not a choice she wishes to make, but her current home is a flat and the upstairs neighbors are making her life a nightmare resulting in health issues. The council is uninterested and have told her to "live with it" til a council bungalow or flat is available - a wait of years.

My question;
Are there any rental agencies with cheaper fees than others?
Are there any schemes she can get on to help with fees or deposits?

Any other advice greatly received.

Comms69

Yorkshire.Lass wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is the right area or even right forum, so please excuse any mistake.

My 62 year old mother is considering giving up a secure tenancy with the council and seeking out a private rental. This is not a choice she wishes to make, but her current home is a flat and the upstairs neighbors are making her life a nightmare resulting in health issues. The council is uninterested and have told her to "live with it" til a council bungalow or flat is available - a wait of years.

My question;
Are there any rental agencies with cheaper fees than others?
Are there any schemes she can get on to help with fees or deposits?

Any other advice greatly received.

Yes agencies have various fees, there is no national, yet alone local standard.


The council MAY help with fees and deposit, but they may not.

pmlindyloo

What are your mother's circumstances? Is she working?

Dorian1958

I am sorry your mum is having problems with her neighbours. IMO there are some issues that I hope you/she has thought through. At the moment, she is in a secure tenancy with the council and therefore presumably not likely to face large unexpected rent rises. However, moving into a private tenancy will mean her situation is much less secure, for example her home could be sold from under her at any time, or she may face high rent hikes. There will also be initial moving costs, EA fees, and a deposit of up to 6 weeks rent up front to find. Also, moving to a private rental does not give any guarantee that her new neighbours are any better than what she already has. On balance it may be worth getting on that list for a council bungalow, sticking it out but complaining using the council procedure whenever the situation warrants it. Sorry I cannot be more optimistic.

Cakeguts

I would suggest that she applies to the council to be rehoused not in a bungalow but a council owned retirement flat. Depending on the area there are often not terrible shortages of these.

It isn't a good idea to give up a secure tenancy whatever the circumstances. The council may not have many bungalows but they may own retirement flats.

pmlindyloo

There may be other more secure options for your mum depending on her circumstances.

If you google for her area plus 'housing for over 60s' this may give you some ideas of what might be available and the criteria for each.

theartfullodger

I do hope mum (perhaps you doing the paperwork...) has scrupulously followed the council/housing dept. complaints process - eg like
http://www.slough.gov.uk/council/complaints-and-feedback/complaints-procedure.aspx

- and has met with and spoken to local MP, MEP & councillors.

If not, do so!

[Deleted User]

I'm so sorry that your Mum is suffering from her neighbours' behaviour (I lived in a house with nightmare neighbours on both sides for 2 years and can well remember the toll it took on my health (and I was only in my 30's).

Even saying that, I would urge her STRONGLY to explore every other option before she takes such a step. Going into the private sector at her age is not a step to be taken lightly - for all the reasons others have already said. She will lose so much security, and there's no guarantee that her neighbours would be any better (and private landlords will be even less interested than the Council).

As well as the above suggestions, get help and advice from anyone you can think of - including a supporting letter from her GP (supporting her application to move); get help from her MP; contact Age UK; etc.

Dig in, keep pestering them, and don't give up (that's what they're counting on). Eventually, they'll move her.

[Deleted User]

Having been in private rental (although a little younger) I can only emphasise the distress and anxiety being in what seems to be the 'temporary' nature of private rental. You have no guarantee a LL will carry out repairs and no guarantee of good neighbours, particularly if your mother is not able to afford high private rental fees each month (rather than low). Unfortunately, while generalising, this tends to have more chance of attracting troublesome populations.

I also would suggest looking into the provision of one bed flats and retirement properties in her area. In mine, for every one three bed property there were four properties suitable for an older person. Your mother could also look at swapping properties.

I sympathise and understand how stressed your mother is..., but if she can avoid it, moving out of secure tenancy is in itself going to cause more problems and may not solve her reason for wanting to move.

I'd suggest she or you contact Age UK to discuss her housing problems. Or Shelter. They may be able to suggest an alternative approach.

Moving won't be easy but if she has a health condition and living there is causing health problems (stress and fatigue, depending on the council) it may give her high enough priority to enable her to move.

I am only 53 but have a few health problems, moved into a council place 7 months ago and just can't get any repairs done, even what I would call essential repairs. However because of my health conditions I am now well on my way to getting an ancient kitchen replaced and other repairs done plus some other things after an OT assessment. I'm not suggesting this for you mother, just that a sideways route can offer success whereas a direct approach doesn't (complaining about noise to Envionmental Health, if you council is overwhelmed).

Yorkshire.Lass

Thank you all for your replies.

Just an update;
The neighbor has now moved on to what the police refer to as 'watching', every time my mum enters the property he is there watching her from the stairs and telling her to get in and other comments.
The council said "Well, what do you what me to do about it?" and said she just has to sit and wait for a property.
The police said it is just watching and all they can do is suggest mediation.

We got our local councilor involved before Christmas, but even he says we have to sit and wait for a place to be offered.

As I live with my mum a one bed or retirement property isn't an option. And this flat experience has put my mum off any future flat, understandably.

We have gone through the complaint procedure with the council; apparently just because the situation hasn't been fixed to our standards isn't cause for complaint.
We are now in conversation with the ombudsman.

We are on an exchange list with the council, exchange website & facebook page(Housing officer said not to mention the noisy neighbors) . And are looking at private rentals.

Once again thank you for the advice and other avenues to explore. And thank you for listening.

BorisThomson

Can you live elsewhere, would that make mum eligible for somewhere more quickly?

Have you said no to mediation?