Can the council just do this?

[Sleepingsun]

My OH's brother sadly passed away early July quite unexpectedly. He had been living in a temporary accommodation (while on a housing list) with his son who turned 18 in February.
We informed the council (used Tell Us Once service) end of July of his passing. As the brother had been dealing with all the housing stuff we didn't have any contact details, so we stupidly assumed that the council would contact us regarding the flat. We believe his son is on the tenancy agreement (but do not have a copy of this unfortunately), and at least they are well aware that he has been living with his father over last three years.
The son has been staying with us last couple of weeks as we didn't want him staying alone, and we have been arranging the funeral etc which was only this week.

Yesterday we went to the flat and to our shock they have emptied the flat of all their belongings and cleaned it.

There was no letters from the council informing us of them emptying the flat and they have not tried contacting us (they have the son's details as he is the next of kin)

After couple of panicky phone calls we managed to find out that council had instructed the landlord (housing association) to empty the flat and thankfully all the possessions are in storage.

I called the council and didn't get through to the correct department, thankfully a very helpful person did take all the details and hopefully someone will call me on Monday and explain what has happened.

Would anybody will be able advise what is our position now? Are they legally allowed to just enter the property and empty it without informing us? Also, that is meant to be OH's poor nephew's home and now all he has is the clothes he has at ours and obviously cannot stay at the flat as all the furniture has been taken too. (this was not theirs but the landlord's)

I am in a bit of shock and not sure what to do at the moment? I can't believe the council can do this. There seems to be no compassion at all, the poor young man and my OH have just lost their dad and brother and now looks like OH's nephew is homeless and without his belongings.

Thank you in advance :)

I'm sorry for your loss. Did the council have YOUR details to contact you? Does the son not know if he was on the tenancy or not? At least everything is in storage but does seem quick to have cleared it all out and not contacted either the son or yourselves (assuming they had your details?)

No advice really but maybe citizen advice?

What a horrible situation

All of this is entirely based on whether your nephews name is on the tenancy agreement.

To be honest, it sounds like it isn't, although there may have been a mess up somewhere along the way.

Temporary accommodation is different to a long term tenancy. When I was in temporary accommodation I wasn't allowed to fall into any rent arrears at all or it was pretty much immediate eviction.

Who has been dealing with the rent the last couple of weeks?

The council can only work on the facts they have and won't chase people up, if they had something saying the tenant had died with no further follow up then they won't leave it for weeks, they lose money when the accommodation is empty and there are massive waiting lists too.

I would be advising your nephew to get his name on the housing list asap and then see what the council say when they call back.

Thank you @Elouera

The council had the son's contact details but not mine. I guess at least I would have expected a letter from them at the flat advising that they will be clearing it in so many days. Apparently they terminated the tenancy the day after we informed them.

The son believes he is on the tenancy but as his dad dealt with it all we are not sure and cannot find the tenancy agreement. I will see what the council says to me on Monday (they now have my contact details), fingers crossed they will call me as I have found that it is difficult to find the right person/department to talk to. Will also contact citizens advice.

Temporary accommodation is usually a license agreement which is not the same as a tenancy. The agreement will have been with DBIL not his son, as he was not over 18 at the time it was made and was a dependent of the licensee not a licensee himself (unless they have made a new license since his 18th birthday, which they wouldn't do unless pushed too, things like that get missed A LOT!) Therefore the council were told the licensee was deceased and terminated the agreement. Legally they could do this as it's not the same as a tenancy. Further, a lot of license agreements have a clause that if you do not stay there every night/enough nights that it will be automatically terminated. They did not have to look after the possessions or give notice, anything like that was done above and beyond the legal requirements. A lot of lodgers actually have better rights than homeless families!

Unfortunately things like this happen a lot. It's really shitty. We do not treat poor people or homeless people right in this country at all. That poor boy

What an awful thing to happen, your poor nephew. I hope you can get something sorted on Monday.

Have a look at Shelter's website to see if there is any guidance there.

It's up to the family to clear the home of the deceased, I think you get one month. Then all keys etc have to be returned. The Estate is responsible for informing the Landlord of when the property is empty then they will calculate the rent owing.
My mother passed away, I was dealing with everything. I spent 3 days clearing what I could, went to the council and explained there was bits I couldn't physically move/clean up due to nature of her death. The man I spoke to was so understanding and explained about the rent owing calculations. Within 6 weeks of me giving back the keys someone was moved in. They are a business, an empty home isn't good for them.

Temporary accommodation will be on a license, not a tenancy agreement. As PP said, it's unlikely your nephew was on the license. That said, if the council knew that your nephew was living with his dad, they should have been in touch with him to make arrangements.

It may be that he isn't entitled to the temp in his own right although I think the council could be on a bit of a sticky wicket with that. (If he was under 18 and the reason they had temp in the first place) did he definitely not get any contact from the council?

Nephew is entitled to make a homeless application in his own right.

Agree, Shelter is a good call.

Yes agree with @ImFree2doasiwant it was undoubtedly temporary accommodation on a license. He should make a homeless application himself and Shelter or a legal aid housing solicitor is a good idea, he can find one at his local law centre.

This happened to me, my dad died when I was 21 and I was not on his council tenancy but lived with him. It was a permanent tenancy, not temporary, but they did agree to give me a new tenancy once they had proved I resided there by checking bank statements, electoral register and talking to the caretaker.
They have made your nephew intentionally homeless, but as it was from temp accommodation it may not be easy to prove this. I really hope you can get a copy of the tenancy agreement.

Thank you very much for all the replies! They have been very helpful.

@JadesRollerDisco @ImFree2doasiwant @Lineofconcepcion
We didn't know about the difference between temporary accommodation and council tenancy ie the license agreement vs tenancy agreement so this is very good to know. At least we can kind of be prepared what to expect when I hopefully speak to them today.

@Coffeethrowtrampbitch - so sorry to hear that this happened to you too in such a difficult time, I am glad it got sorted out.

We will contact both citizens advice and Shelter, thank you for the suggestions.

Thank you again for all the replies, they really have been a great help!