Can the council rehome

bravolima

So my dad has now retired and lives in a council house. He lives there on his own and it's a 3 bed terraced. 

Can the council look to remove him given that he now longer pays any rent and rehouse him in something smaller? 

I am looking to give him the money to buy it and have it left in back to me in his will to make sure he can continue to live there. 

Advice appreciated.....

martindow

bravolima said:

So my dad has now retired and lives in a council house. He lives there on his own and it's a 3 bed terraced. 

Can the council look to remove him given that he now longer pays any rent and rehouse him in something smaller? 

I am looking to give him the money to buy it and have it left in back to me in his will to make sure he can continue to live there. 

Advice appreciated.....

He's not paying any rent?!

lincroft1710

It appears that councils can ask but not insist that a tenant downsizes

user1977

What do you mean by he isn't paying any rent? 

theartfullodger

He should immediately pay off all rent arrears & then pay in full on-time.  Then council might look on his case helpfully.

Not paying some rent (even 1p underpaid for only 1 day) opens tenant up to landlord (council, housing association, private, co-op etc etc) evicting using grounds available.   They can remove him - full stop: If evicted for arrears they don;t have to rehouse at all.

Why not paying rent please?? If he getting all the benefits he's entitled to - see
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

SOME (but not all) councils will offer incentives to move to a smaller place:  If not paying rent, many - but not all - might suggest there are more .....

CKhalvashi

user1977 said:

What do you mean by he isn't paying any rent? 

I read that as the rent is covered by Housing Benefit.

HampshireH

CKhalvashi said:

user1977 said:

What do you mean by he isn't paying any rent? 

I read that as the rent is covered by Housing Benefit.

So, if as @CKhalvashi has said that he is on full housing benefit and doesn't have arrears there is no reason why he would have to downsize, unless he breaches the terms of his tenancy to the point the seek possession.

However you may want to consider if a 3 bed is manageable in older age where sheltered accommodation or housing for older persons may be more suitable

If you decide to gift him the money to buy it then it is his to do as he pleases.

Please make sure this is entirely his choice and he isn't shackled to a home in later life which may not work for him through an obligation to you. 

user1977

And consider what's going to happen when all the other costs of home ownership arise e.g. the maintenance, upgrades, adaptations etc which the council would otherwise be paying for.

macman

For as long as he (or housing benefit) pays the rent, he has secure tenure for the rest of his life. Why take that security away by pushing him to purchase the property and have to bear all the cost of maintenance in the future?

CKhalvashi

The other thing that would worry me in this situation would be care costs.

From experience, those mount up fast.

macman

CKhalvashi said:

The other thing that would worry me in this situation would be care costs.

From experience, those mount up fast.

He's only just retired, no mention of him requiring care in the near future.