Parent problems

DeadTomorrow

I'm not sure which forum this best fits but this seems like the closest fit.

I'm hoping someone can help give me some advice as my parents are seriously stressing me and my siblings out in terms of what to do with them. My dad is in his 70s and my mum mid 60s. They should both be retired but keep saying they don't have enough money on a state pension to live on (which I believe is about £16,500 between two of them).

In short, they messed up on the housing market and have somehow ended up in later life having to sell their house and are left with nothing. They have no savings. At the moment they are both working flat out every single day of the week from early morning until late evening doing a manual labour job that is exhausting for them. The pensions will cover the rent for the house but not quite enough to be able to live, with rent and food (and I think they have credit card loads though they won't say).

My brother has got caught up in the situation by buying a house for them to live in (with mortgage) even though he doesn't have one of her own. He works with them and feels he now can't move away - or at least doesn't have any freedom because they can't do their jobs without him. And now he can't think about buying a house for himself.

I don't have any spare money myself to be able to help out at the moment and I can't see that changing for at least another couple of years.

Can anyone advise as to what their options are in this situation? Are there other benefits or things they could claim on top of a pension to help pay for their rent to my brother or would they have to consider council housing if they can't afford anywhere to live? It seems crazy they are still working so much.

(there's a bit more to it but hopefully that's an OK summary)

Brynsam

Forget council housing - they won't be a priority and it would be years on a waiting list before they'd qualify for anything.

Suggest they have a look at a website such as https://www.turn2us.org.uk and/or talk to the local branch of Citizens Advice. If they have debts - and it sounds as if that is the case - https://www.stepchange.org can help.

Newly_retired

If they retire with no occupational pensions they are likely to be eligible for Pension Credit which is a top up of the state pension.

This normally gives automatic entitlement to Housing Benefit. However this would not be available to pay rent to a family member, as this would be seen as a Contrived tenancy with the deliberate intention to claim benefits.

Social housing? There is a huge demand for this, though there are some properties for those who are of retirement age.


What do your parents want? I am in the same age band and I would hate to think my children “ do not know what to do with me”.

LHW99

This may help to check whether they can get any other benefits

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Keep_pedalling

They will not get pension credit, as it seems they will retire on full state pensions, and they won’t get housing benefit while they live with their son.

I think the first thing to do is for you and your brother to sit them down and insist they come clean about their entire financial situation. They are now dependant on your brother and they owe it to him to be totally honest.

Mojisola

DeadTomorrow wrote: »

The pensions will cover the rent for the house but not quite enough to be able to live, with rent and food (and I think they have credit card loads though they won't say).

My brother has got caught up in the situation by buying a house for them to live in

I second Keep pedalling's advice - the parents need to open up about their financial situation.

If they have debts, get them to see one of the charities that helps sort out financial problems.

If they moved out to rented accommodation, they would be able to claim help with the rent and your brother would be able to sell the house and buy somewhere to live in himself.

badmemory

Have they been taking their state pensions whilst working? If not your father's is going up at 10.4% pa as his will be based on the old state pension.

xylophone

Are your parents already drawing their state pensions?

Your brother is living with your parents?

All three work at the same job?

ChrisK....._3

All the siblings/spounces sell up and buy an 8 bedroom mansion with swimming pool and sauna room and let you parent live in the end bedroom rent free
Being an only child, a huuuuuuuge family commune is something I've always wanted to do but the rest of the family dont agree - not even my wife )

elsien

Although there is generally a long wait for social housing, they may qualify for the over fifties housing which can be quicker. It may be worth them speaking to a housing officer about their situation.

Kynthia

The problem is without all the facts it's hard for you to do anything.

You've assumed they get full state pensions but you don't actually know that they do. So it's possible they are eligible for pension credit. It's possible they are entitled to other benefits depending on their health and incone so the Turn2Us website should help. Depending on where they live it might not be impossible for them to get a council property for over 55s, it's worth checking. If they could qualify for LHA, which would need confirming first, your brother would need to evict them as he wouldn't be able to receive it unless they've already been paying rent and they can all show it's not a contrived tenancy. A free debt charity, Age Concern and/or PensionWise might be good ports of call for advice tailored to tgeir situation, but they'll need to be on board with this. Do they honestly have no workplace pensions? Could it be your father maybe hasn't searched all his previous employers for one or has it already been spent, as it could be worth an investigation?