Is the only way to give up my sitting room?

[Watdidusay]

Sister is abroad and has long covid. Moved over to an EU country for work 4 years ago and has been ill for nearly 2 years. Unable to work and ineligible for benefits in that country. Lost job and decided she has to come home for support.

Unfortunately there isn't a place for her to stay long term aside from my open plan sitting room diner on the sofa.

She will probably need to go on benefits for a while and will need to pass habitual residence etc. The problem is it looks like she will either need to be "street homeless" and be put up in a hostel or sleep on my sofa and basically take over my small home which is already crowded. We were hoping that my mum (who's in supported living) acting as a solid guarantor would help her get a private rental but I'm reading that won't be enough. I've even been told she won't be able to get a room in a house share.

AIBU to feel like this is horrendous? We've all always worked until my sister got unwell.

I rent a room to a lodger. There are no requirements that a lodger is employed, that's entirely at the landlord's discretion.
I don't do credit checks.
Have a look on spareroom.com to see what's available.
The sticking point will be that the rent needs to be covered until Housing Benefit kicks in, and it may not cover the full rent when it does, so it will need to be topped up by other benefits.
I don't know how the benefits system works for someone who has been living abroad, but if entitled to benefits she should be able to get lodgings.

If entitled, you can use the Turn to Us website to calculate how much she might get.

Paying rent ‘in advance’ as such isn’t banned, but it has to be done in a certain way.
https://theindependentlandlord.com/rent-in-advance/

This is really bad advice. ME/long covid can be mild (fatigue) or severe (bedridden). Many people with ME can work even if that means part time.

I cant advice in this specific situation but I know someone who is unemployed and had nowhere to live due to the landlord kicking him put. So, he registered with the council, and was living in hostels/ cheap hotels for around 4-5 months (my understanding this was classed as being homeless), and then council got him a self-contained room in a shared house - seems nice, clean new place, 3 en-suite rooms sharing a kitchen. Its a private rent but done through the council and paid for by benefits.

Hi @Watdidusay

I have no real advice to offer but just wanted to say how sorry I am this is happen. It must be such a worry for you all. Am hoping there's enough ideas on here to help you get the plan of action you need.

Good luck x

All landlord know how benefit work, she needs to start a claim now and work on her residency at the same time and start looking for places, property is at a premium right now. At least she had her amazing experience abroad and now has you to fall on now her long covid has taken affect…
you can be technically homeless while sofa surfing and make application to the council for emergency temporary accommodation

I’d do that to, go to hospital get admitted and then say you have nowhere to go when discharged

Yes, this will impact your life in a negative way

I agree with others when she is here she needs to contact shelter for advice .
And her gp for help with her health.
My sister had long covid for 3 years she went from working full time and travelling lots . To back to living in my parents spare room on sick leave. She lost her job and did the same as your sister. Slept most of the time.
Eventually she got some help from a doctor who worked mostly with people with long covid.
She started with a personal trainer 3 times a week. Very basic and slow exercises tailored to her . That she could also do every day at home. As well as other things to look after herself better.
Took a while but 3 years after getting covid she now works full time from home in a good job. She still goes to her PT 4 times a week . She lives with my parents still and they do help her a lot. And she has bad days or burn outs and needs a week off to recover.

Can she not work at all? I know long Covid is exhausting but there must be something she can do? What’s happens if she stays where she currently is? Does she/can she claim sickness benefits?

I'm going to say this again. A person has to be habitually resident to qualify for assistance with housing/ to present as homeless. I have no clue if a person will be admitted to hospital if suffering from long covid as that is a clinical decision. However being in hospital, bearing in mind that it's not likely to be months, in all likelihood won't make a person habitually resident. During that time she would have to put in a claim for UC and hope it would be dealt with quickly. And then hope that the local authority will decide she is eligible, homeless and in priority need. And, again not wishing to put a spanner in the works, but local authorities still have to decide if a person is intentionally homeless. They might well give assistance to find a private rent provided she is habitually resident. I'm giving general guidance here, based on working as a homeless officer for 25 years. I'm clearly not making decisions! There are many variables and lots of things that will be assessed when/if the sister contacts the local authority.

Between yourself, your mum and your sister, could you get a larger flat for yourself with more room for her, allowing her to stay for longer?

If your sister is a UK citizen from birth then she will be entitled to NHS support from the date she moves back. I know this as a fact as I was living abroad for 12 years and returned to the UK to live 4 weeks ago.

I had to register on the Gov.uk website, using my passport to prove my identity and citizenship, once registered on there you can register with a GP. My GP was also able to send me my NHS number as I had forgotten this over the years.

Regarding housing, I'm not sure why you both think she wouldn't be able to get so much as a room in a house share, as long as she has the money for the deposit and rent it shouldn't be a problem. My advice would be to look on local FB groups ect rather than going through an estate agent as then you don't have to pass credit checks. The laws around rentals are changing later this year which may mean its harder to find a rental but having just returned to the UK as a British citizen wouldn't make her ineligible to rent as long as she can afford it.

As far as benefits go, this may be a tad harder but as far as I know she just has to prove that she has returned to the UK permanently to be able to submit a claim for universal credit ect, she is best trying to speak to the CAB if possible, or try submitting a claim online as even if rejected she will then have an in to speak to someone about it.

She ate through those savings while not working.

She has long covid and they cannot find anything treatable so no role for hospital at this time.

She can still be homeless if someone is putting her up. She doesn't need to be street homeless.

I mean if you have a good relationship with her I would feel inclined to house her. It’s not like her situation is intentional.

think outside the box- can you all live together somewhere larger. Your sister, mum and you. How poorly is she? Would she be able to support you in any way non financially in the house? Is there any working at home role she could manage so she could contribute/ get back in her feet.

Depending on where you live and the cost of rentals locally, she could be placed some distance away. Some London councils are placing people out of London in cheaper rental areas. Can the wider family club together to find her a modest but safe place within the financial limits of what the local council will pay for a single person local to you so you can provide her with some support? If she is aged 55 plus she may be eligible for some age restricted housing / almshouses..

Can you put another single bed in your bedroom ? Isn't there an option to apply under the overcrowding issue . Or that you are asking her to leave because of it .

Hmm very tricky. I'm not sure what I would do in your situation. Maybe give her my room and sleep in the living room for a bit? So she's more out of the way?

How sick is she? I had LC for four years and the first year was terrible, but it gradually improved and after 3 years I was a lot better. I was able to work from home for a few hours a week (self employed) and now I'm working almost full time.

However, even when I was bed bound for a lot of the time I was unable to claim PIP. That's because I was able to move around and cook for myself around 50% of the time, and I would do that day-on-day-off - but 50% of the time on my feet meant I was ineligible for PIP support. (It would have been easy to lie about this though - I just couldn't!)

Nuffield do a free long covid rehab programme that has very positive outcomes.

Contact adult social care. Explain the situation and if need be go to citizens Advice.

Her medical issues will give her high priority for council housing.

If she's too unwell to work (even a WFH computer based role?) then in time she'll have to claim benefits.

Sorry to hear you've been in a similar situation.

She wouldn't be eligible for pip until she's been here two years, so we're not looking at that right now.

Is there a reason you're not considering the lodger idea, OP?

The LA won't help her until she has no other options so to get her help you need to be tough. Allow her to come back and stay on your sofa for 10 days. Let her know in advance that you will be doing this, but on day 3, write a formal letter to her telling her that she must leave in 7 days time and that you will take legal steps to remove her from your property if she does not leave. That will be the evidence she needs to present as homeless and get a place in a hostel. Ideally she should also show them documentary evidence of her health condition - that isn't vital but may get her assessed for something better. The fact that she is physically present in your home and you are her sister is sufficient to establish a local connection that makes your LA responsible for her. You are very unlikely to actually have to throw her out onto the street but the LA will not do anything unless you are prepared to prove you will go that far.

She doesn't have UC housing benefit as no tenancy. We will just have to see if anyone will take her without evidence of income.

@CactusSwoonedEnding Whether the council help or not has nothing to do if she has no other options. They have no legal obligation to help if -
she hasn’t passed the HRT
if she doesn’t have priority need