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Elderly parents
Original poster

Where can I find financial advice - Dad is broke

28 replies

AbitSceptical · 26/07/2022 14:03

Hello,

My Dad is 78 and has no money. He rents a property and is in arrears - the only reason he hasn't been evicted is because he is a protected tenant.

He owns a piece of land in the midlands which is worth about £30K - he's been trying to get planning permission on it for about 8 years, has invested about £100K in trying to do so, so he won't sell it.

If the planning comes through the land will be worth about £300K, enough to possibly buy a retirement flat... but he won't do that. He wants to build houses on the plots and sell them one by one.

We've been hoping that he can get the pp, but time and money are running out.

He hasn't enough to live on - he gets about £10K a year state pension, but that isn't enough to cover his rent (£950 per month).

He is very stubborn and won't take advice from anyone, least of all his children. He lives alone and has no friends (his choice). He is probably depressed and has alluded to suicide.

What can I do?

OP posts:
Ragruggers · 26/07/2022 14:17

I believe if you have assets ie land you are not entitled to claim means tested benefit.So his only choice is to sell the land but I doubt he will do that at the lower price.He will have to face his own problem but he could be homeless,Sorry you have to deal with this.

thesandwich · 26/07/2022 14:15

Don’t know if he would be eligible for any help- try cab or age uk for advice. But sounds like he has choices he doesn’t want to take.

earsup · 26/07/2022 14:12

His rent sounds very high for a protected tenant...under the old rent act...and there are grounds to evict if you dont pay the rent...its the only grounds to evict those on a regulated tenancy...but his rent sounds far too high for it to be one of those old contracts...did he occupy before 1988...a new rent act replaced the 1977 one but gave same protection only allowed eviction under non payment ..so he needs to clear those arrears fast...
not sure why he has spent all that money on the land....sounds very odd...last resort is to put land in auction and just get some cash in...have you tried some of the elderly people charities for advice..??

your dad is 78...not sure why he is thinking of building houses on the plot etc...this sounds very difficult....contact some agencies for advice...good luck.