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Original poster

Renting when retired?

20 replies

Member786488 · 12/02/2023 18:04

If you’re renting a property, say a 3-bed semi for example, and you retire and your income drops, how do you pay your rent?

can you go and get housing benefit or similar to make up the shortfall?
And if you can, can the council tell you you have to downsize if you’re a couple in a 3-bed?

Asking for a friend!

OP posts:
kitcat15 · 12/02/2023 18:09

Depends ….is the person only getting state pension and no private pension? Does the person have any savings? Is it a council house or housing association? ….need more info OP

PitYerTapOan · 12/02/2023 18:09

You can get housing benefit. It's limited to the amount your local council considers reasonable for your needs. So if you need one bedroom, you'd get enough to cover what the council considers would cover a one bedroom property.

Obviously private rentals are very expensive so that money won't go far. The best thing to do is try to get a council or housing association tenancy. Same problems of undersupply there as there are for everyone.

PitYerTapOan · 12/02/2023 18:12

Oh yeah your housing benefit also reduces/tapers right the way to nothing if you've got a private pension and/or savings. They'd expect you to give your own money to a landlord before they give you any to pass on to him/ her.

gogohmm · 12/02/2023 18:14

Once retired if your income drops you can apply for benefits. Your housing benefits is based on need so a single adult would only qualify for the local amount for a one bed property - they can pay the supplement if they can afford it of course. You can do a rough benefits check on turn2us. The government doesn't subsidise you to live in a larger house than you need. The total income threshold for pension credit and other benefits including help with housing isn't high, so if you have private/workplace pensions and/or savings over the set amount you can't get help.

Looking to move somewhere smaller would be a good first step

Original poster
Member786488 · 12/02/2023 18:35

Ok thanks. Private rental with under £10k savings. Couple, she doesn’t work, h s retiring. No, or tiny private pension, not enough to cover monthly rent at all, I understand that the housing benefit would cover enough for a couple only, but what do you do if private rents are still too high for just a small flat?

is it expected that they move to a more affordable area? Ie, up north?

OP posts:
PitYerTapOan · 12/02/2023 19:02

It's expected they live on what they have with state pension, private pension, savings and any state benefits they're entitled to.

Whether that involves moving depends on how far the money goes.

Personally I couldn't think of anything worse than being a pensioner in private rented housing and would be talking to my local housing office. Surely they must have known this cliff edge was coming. Anyone I know who is in private rented and coming up for retirement has been shitting themselves for years.

NewNovember · 12/02/2023 19:11

Housing associations have over 55 only properties that are cheaper than private rental.

Babyroobs · 12/02/2023 19:16

Member786488 · 12/02/2023 18:35

Ok thanks. Private rental with under £10k savings. Couple, she doesn’t work, h s retiring. No, or tiny private pension, not enough to cover monthly rent at all, I understand that the housing benefit would cover enough for a couple only, but what do you do if private rents are still too high for just a small flat?

is it expected that they move to a more affordable area? Ie, up north?

If he is retirement age and she is under retirement age ( termed a s a mixed age couple for benefits purposes) then they will need to claim Universal credit rather than housing benefit. They will then get a rent element within their award by state pension is deducted pound for pound off any UC so they may end up not getting a lot of UC. If the partner who is under state pension age has no good reason not to be working ( for example they are a carer or too ill to work ) then they will be expected to look ofr full time work.

Babyroobs · 12/02/2023 19:17

Also private pension would come off any Uc claim as well.

bananamilkyum · 12/02/2023 19:19

How about a housing association if on a state pension and small private pension no savings? Would you get any help?

Pemba · 12/02/2023 19:20

About 3 years ago our landlord was wanting to sell and we saw our local authority re social housing and were told that as an older but able bodied couple, no kids at home, we had a good chance of getting housed. Would have probably been a one bed though, I think they deem that sufficient for a couple. It's housing suitable for a family that is in shorter supply apparently. This was in the Midlands.

In the end we found another private rental, (not used to only having one bedroom, so willing to pay more) and recently are in the position to buy, luckily for us. But I hope your friends will also find their local authority helpful.

kitcat15 · 12/02/2023 19:24

There’s always over 55s 1 bed flats going round out way ( council)….they are really tiny though ….bedroom….shower room and kitchen/lounge and just a step in hall like 4 ft sq…no bigger

Caterina99 · 15/02/2023 09:01

I work for a private landlord and a lot of our tenants are retired. We are in a rural area and the rents are not high.

Obviously I am not privy to our tenants private financial circumstances, however we have several that receive housing benefit paid directly to us. The tenant then pays us the difference. Usually that is around £10-£50 per month depending on the size of their property.

Recently one of our tenants had his housing benefit reassessed as he has money in savings. He now has to pay us slightly more as his benefit dropped.

Many other of the tenants receive universal credit. This is paid directly to them so we have no idea how much they receive. I also assume several have comfortable private pensions and have no need for any benefits.

ZaZathecat · 15/02/2023 09:07

You can find out what the local council deems the maximum rent for housing benefit purposes on their website, or here lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx
There is also money deducted from housing benefit for extra bedrooms that are not deemed necessary, often referred to as the bedroom tax.

TallulahBetty · 15/02/2023 15:24

Are they both over retirement age? If one is under, it'll be UC they need to claim, not HB.

ivykaty44 · 17/02/2023 15:26

As other pp states as they are a couple with one still working age, it’s a claim for UC

they can also claim council tax reduction, but would need to be claiming UC and each authority has different amounts of savings for CTax reduction

they be best if to get on social housing list and bid on over 55 properties, which will be one bed flats. There are usually plenty and could find themselves regimes in a couple of months

starpatch · 18/02/2023 08:28

The bedroom tax does not apply to those of pension age. And nor does the benefits cap. So it seems like it makes sense for them both to work until pension age as possibly they might be able to keep their house. Pension credit and housing credit do not give much money though - it depends what they are used to.

LawksaMercyMissus · 18/02/2023 08:42

Be wary....elderly family member was renting privately when he retired. No savings, minimal private pension.

He wasn't in a position to downsize because of poor health and didn't meet the earnings criteria for even the place he lived. He paid his rent without fail every month. He'd been in his house for a long time and the rent was lower than a smaller place, but it's the number of bedrooms that counts as far as the council is concerned.

He wasn't entitled to any help and his rent plus council tax and utility bills were more than his income.

Babyroobs · 18/02/2023 11:51

starpatch · 18/02/2023 08:28

The bedroom tax does not apply to those of pension age. And nor does the benefits cap. So it seems like it makes sense for them both to work until pension age as possibly they might be able to keep their house. Pension credit and housing credit do not give much money though - it depends what they are used to.

Pension credits can give large amounts in some situations especially where both of a couple are classed as disabled. I have known some couples recently get £200 a week in this situation. It's because of all the additional premiums they get on the pension credit claim - 2 x severe disability premiums and 2 x carers premiums give them around £200 extra a week. Personally I get amazed at the amounts but I guess some of them are paying for carers from that. Just yesterday I helped one of my clients to get her disability benefit reviewed and with the increase she was now getting £230 a WEEK extra on top of state pension !

89ghud · 18/02/2023 12:05

The bedroom tax doesn't apply to retired people...surely they're the people the tax was supposed to be targeting, can't imagine many families are actually under their quota?! Sorry missing point of thread...!

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