82 year old facing homelessness

Diamondspearls

My mother is 82 and has been asked to leave her flat of 5 years as the landlord wants to sell it. 
We've had very little help from the council, and places to let are thin on the ground. 
How can we get help with this?

Thank you

Sapindus

Sorry to hear this.  You may find help on the website for the homeless charity Shelter.

silvercar

The council will have an obligation to help, but may well tell your mother to wait until the landlord serves the correct notice, or even longer. In the mean time she should research warden assisted or sheltered homes as vacancies may come along quicker than waiting for a standard rental. Can she show sufficient income to rent privately?

This is the problem with renting privately in old age, you are at the whim of a landlord who could decide to sell up at the end of a tenancy.

elsien

Is she actually on the council housing register, because she needs to be. I will second that often place for older people come up more quickly although that will depend on where she is living.
Does she have any mobility or other  support needs that would bump her up the priority list at all?

Grumpy_chap

Diamondspearls said:

My mother is 82 and has been asked to leave her flat of 5 years as the landlord wants to sell it. 
We've had very little help from the council, and places to let are thin on the ground. 
How can we get help with this?

Thank you

I know she won't want any avoidable stress, but she does not need to move out simply because she has been asked to move out.
Has the LL served the required formal notice?
Is that notice valid?
Even with the notice, she does not need to move out until a court issues an eviction notice.

The above won't change the need to move somewhere else, but may increase the time she has to seek alternative accommodation so that she can be more selective.  As others have mentioned, consider sheltered accommodation or other accommodation targeted for the more mature as well as the general pool of rental accommodation.

Obtaining social housing is unlikely to be realistic.

Has the LL offered any incentive for her to leave the property willingly?

Keep_pedalling

silvercar said:

The council will have an obligation to help, but may well tell your mother to wait until the landlord serves the correct notice, or even longer. In the mean time she should research warden assisted or sheltered homes as vacancies may come along quicker than waiting for a standard rental. Can she show sufficient income to rent privately?

This is the problem with renting privately in old age, you are at the whim of a landlord who could decide to sell up at the end of a tenancy.

Looking at sheltered housing or assisted living may be the best option here, especially if she has sufficient income to go directly to the provider as this will give her a lot more choice than falling back on the LA. 

Beeblebr0x

I wouldn't touch buying a warden-assisted flat as, speaking from my parents' experience, they're a money pit and don't hold their value. I'd advise renting if you choose this option.

theartfullodger

A landlord telling them they've got to go has no legal standing.  Only a court can evict.  Speak to citizens advice

Brie

I second the recommendation to talk to SHELTER.  She should show them what has been issued to her by the LL and they can help advise if it is valid.  Like has she had her deposit refunded?  Has she been provided with the gas certificates etc?  There are a lot of things a LL has to do legally and if they fail on one thing then normally she would wait until the day before she's been told to vacate the premises to let the LL know that the eviction isn't valid.  And so they have to remedy whatever and then start the process again.  This will at least buy her some time.

What you don't want to do is decide that she can live with you for a while.  This will remove her from any priority list as she will be considered to have found new permanent accommodation.  

Check the local housing associations.  A friend is in a similar position and we've discovered that there are quite a few very inexpensive studio flats available suitable for an older individual.  

Jude57

There are Housing Associations which specialise in housing for older people and the local Council should have information about those. Otherwise, search 'retirement homes to rent [location]' or 'over 60's property to rent [location]' and you should find what's available locally. 

One company that seems to have properties all over England is Anchor Housing. I can't personally recommend them but a friend lives in one of their properties and loves it. She has her own front door to her 1 bedroom flat with a small kitchen which isn't big enough for a washing machine but there's a laundry room on site with washers and dryers, a resident's lounge where activities are provided for those who want them, there's a hair salon where a hairdresser comes in a couple of days a week and there's a 'guest suite' consisting of a small double bedroom and en suite for overnight visitors. Rents aren't bad for what you get and they do accept Local Housing Allowance top ups. I believe the same company also has properties for people who need some level of care but they're more expensive.

This website might be useful:

https://housingcare.org/

It's a directory of the housing options for older people and you can search by location, type of property and more.