I have a good friend who has been suffering with mental health problems and has been in and out of hospital for the past couple of years and is currently under section.
As she is obviously unable to work she has been having her rent paid by housing benefit. However her current hospital stay has been a very long one and as she has not stayed in her house for 52 weeks now she has been informed that her housing benefit will stop and she will therefore lose her house as she will be unable to pay the rent.
She was told that if she just went and spent one night at the house then her benefit would continue but unfortunately she has not been well enough to do this.
I wondered if anyone knows if there is anything else she could do. I realise that there has to be a time limit on benefits etc it just seems so unfair as this really is beyond her control, and I know that losing her house will come as a big blow to her and may seiously affect her mental health even further.