Council House - death of the tenant

[munemema]

I didn't know where to put this but does anyone have experience of what happens when a council tenant dies?

A friend, who is in his 30s, has been living with his mother in her council house (where he grew up). She has recently died.

He has disabilities As well as his physical disability he has (I suspect) some learning difficulties and finds dealing with officialdom difficult at the best of times. He is capable though and was his mother's carer.

I'm assuming he's "entitled" to be housed by the council in his own right, but as a single man, probably not in a 3 bed house.

He works full time but on a low income.

Does anyone know what's likely to happen regarding the house and his housing situation?

He needs to contact the council housing team (that manages the property). They will then assess him and transfer the tenancy to him if appropriate

He may have sitting tenant rights but it depends on her lease etc. The local housing team will try to help him get a smaller property

They will assist him to moving to a one bed or assisted accommodation. They will have a welfare team to assist with this. He will have the option of keeping the house if he can afford it. Please ask the welfare side to help

Was his name on the tenancy?

A tenancy can be passed from parent to child in the event of death but I think they will be reluctant to allow a single man a 3 bedroom home. They may well try and pursuade him to downsize.

The council will most probably require the house back if it is under occupied.
But I don’t think they will have an obligation to house him if he is able to work full time.
Does he claim any benefits?
Were adult social care involved with him or his mum?
Will he have a friend or family member that can be with him when talking to the council about housing?

I guess all council are different but I have faced almost a similar problem.
My mother is still alive and my brother lives with her but the relationship is strained.
He was diagnosed as asbergers as a teen but has not been under any adult social care since he left school.
He works full time, but cannot understand bills/money and he has some difficulties with social interaction. He wouldn’t have a clue how to speak to housing people.
The council would not house him unless he was ‘homeless’ on the street type homeless and then he would only be housed in a YMCA or hostel.
Adult social care wouldn’t be able to step in and help as my brother will not recognise that he has ‘difficulty’ or any learning disability.
So much so that he lied on his pip assessment which resulted in all his disability payments stopping and my mother had her carers allowance stopped.

I would suggest that he contact his doctor and adult social care.
They should be able to advise the council that he needs help with housing.

It depends on the tenancy succession rights.
Contact the L.A. (They will contact you for the property back asap if my Mums council flat was typical)