Moving MIL to a care home in a different area

[partytimed]

I don’t know where to start with this. MIL lives in council owned sheltered accommodation and is in her 80s. After a stroke she is becoming increasingly unhappy living alone and has carers going in four times a day. We live an hour away in a different county, she is in London. One of us goes to help three times a week, take her out shopping etc and we drive her to our house once a week as well. It would be more convenient if she were local to us but don’t know how to go about this.

she was refused a care home as all of her immediate needs are currently being met. She has no financial assets the place she is in is a council flat for which she pays a peppercorn rent. What are the chances of moving her into a care home in our borough (Kent). DH really wants to do it but I’m concerned because I don’t think the council will fund this will they?

If she can live with four care calls a day in sheltered accommodation, you can approach Kent County Council and make a housing application to their area on medical grounds. Kent has quite a lot of sheltered housing provision and also ‘extra care’ providers. They may initially turn her down as she has not lived in the area but you appeal the decision and she is very likely to be successful. At that stage, she would be offered a property and Kent would take over responsibility for her care package.

Extra care sheltered housing might be more suitable for her. She can apply for housing benefit to cover her rent and charges and she’ll be financially assessed for the care element in the way she probably is now.

Residential care on the other hand is difficult to get funding for. It would be her local authority funding it and, as they have turned her down, it’s not likely she’ll get funding unless her needs deteriorate.