Great aunt wants to downsize (council)

[LifeisNOTlikeemmerdalefarm]

My great aunt is 82 has lived in her 3 bed council house for over 45 years.
Great uncle died 3 years ago. They had one child who died 10 years ago.
She is very alert in her mind.
A few months ago she said the house was too big for her to cope.
I contacted the local authority to ask about a flat or bungalow or shelter housing.
We finally got a man come today to access her needs.
He has told her that she can go on the list but it could take up to 5 years to get another property.
To say we were shocked as surely they need 3 bed houses for families.

They do but she cant move if she's nowhere to go to. It will be because there's not enough one bed flats/ bungalows.

Is it still possible to swap houses? I used to see people advertising their council house looking to swap with someone in a different size house/location.

Have a chat to the council and see if they do this.

I’d be VERY surprised if it took that long if she’s happy to go to sheltered - there tends to be more over 55 properties than any others.

Yeah that's what I remember from when I was bidding. Loads of 55+ flats. And you are right, they do desperately need more 3 bed properties. Have you looked at any HA's in your area?

I'd be surprised if it took that long, the turn over rate in over 55's housing is pretty quick compared to family housing. My dad got offered one within a couple of months - I know all areas are different but we don't have that many over 55 blocks in our small town.

They may be less motivated to find a suitable swap in her case than they would if she were 52 because, in the nature of things, there is less chance she will stay there for 30 years if they do nothing.

Look on the website for the local authority she lives in and see what info there is about different types of transfers available in that area. There might be different schemes.

Well yes they do need the bigger house but if they have a low stock of smaller ones, what can they do?

In our authority, she would receive the highest rehousing priority as they're in desperate need of family houses. Have a look at the allocations policy. As others have said, there isn't as much demand for sheltered and over 55's housing usually.

I bidded for 17 months, to get my sheltered housing flat.

I'd be very surprised if it took anywhere near that length of time. I know of 2 elderly people who were in large 3-bed homes. The minute they said they wanted to downsize, the wheels moved very, very quickly! They were moved within a matter of weeks.

I started bidding on my 55th birthday last may and got somewhere this october.
It all depends on th council.

That sounds wrong unless she has said she will only accept a bungalow. At my council we have a special officer looking at trying to make mutual exchanges happen in circs like these so she would get a good choice of swaps.

Our DM in a large 3 bed was advised she was adequately housed so nit eligible to move!

Bungalows are like gold dust and will go to those needing them for medical reasons first. I work within sheltered housing (it’s not actually called that anymore) for a HA and many of our properties get advertised on Right Move. We also have “immediately available” properties which don’t go through the bidding system

It's called sheltered housing in the local authorities here but may also be referred to as over 50's/60's housing.

Do a swap , I bet her 3 bed would be snapped up

I meant in the HA I work for not in general. We refer to it as retirement living.