75 year old, no savings, pension or housing

[BreezyPanda]

Hi everyone,r

My dad moved abroad a long time ago for work. He ended up moving there permanently and starting his company. His company went bankrupt and he spent all his savings.

He moved in with my mum (his ex wife) but the situation didn't suit them anymore so he moved out. He's back in the UK now, where I am, but he doesn't have any permanent housing and no money.

Is there any solution? He has no pension.

Thank you

I try not to get annoyed at things like this but it's really taking the piss. He's now deciding to rock up here having contributed nothing in the uk to drain the benefits system and nhs in old age.

Yep. Parasite springs to mind.

Quite. There are people who deserve help and there are those that don't - we need to stop providing it to everyone without distinguishing between the two.

If he paid his social insurance in an EU country as an employed or self-employed person he may well have entitlement to a state pension from them. [You can't withdraw your entire state pension].

First call the National Insurance office at HMRC to find his NINO and then the International Pension Centre for advice 0191 2187777

It does seem to be quite common though. In the last few years I have worked in my job we have had numerous people ask what they can claim as soon as they move back. I had one person enquire a few weeks ago asking how she could transfer her lifelong disabled mother from a nursing home abroad to one here. the mother had lived in an African country for 35+ years but was a british citizen. I guess as they are British citizens we have an obligation to provide for them.

It's infuriating

Given his history, I think it suggests he'll happily leech off OP unless she sorts out alternative accommodation and income for him. The last thing he needs is "a kind landlady" that's exactly the sort of person he'll take advantage of, until they kick him out, which can easily be done for any reason and with almost no notice. He needs a room in a HMO and he can make it cozy himself. If the LL doesn't live in the property it won't be a lodger type tenancy but something with more rights than that with regards to eviction.

Yeah, sounds like that would create a great environment for me to live in

I'll be far more likely to be subject to crime, and either I have to start defending my own property with violence, or we'll have to pay more in crime prevention/detection and prosecution than we would pay in benefits.

It is helpful to approach these problems from an adult, pragmatic perspective, rather than just wanting to 'punish' for emotional satisfaction.

I get why you're saying it, but surely 75yo's don't get rooms in shared houses. That's partly why the over-55's and warden assisted places are a thing. There aren't random septuagenarians on Spare Room. It's even less likely than the getting-a-job scenario. Unfortunately this man has created a problem for himself that other people have to solve for him, which sucks but he will need age-appropriate housing, he's not going to be taken on by a landlord and roommates.

Anyone can hire a room anywhere, it’s illegal to discriminate.

Takes the piss no that's a chap can leave the country for the best of 40 years and now comes back expecting help after pissing away all his money? Your mum was clearly a saint to take her ex husband back in and financially support him

Sure, but in the real world Spare Room has maximum ages of roommates and it's hard enough to get a houseshare in your 50s never mind 70s. Nobody involved. wants that living scenario. I guess at a stretch a lodging situation might work but landlords are still gonna be wary of them going into decline.

Excuse my ignorance, but is that referring to private pensions or can people do that with their state pension too?
no - you can't claim your state pension early.
(You can defer though & the weekly amount increases if you do so).

I'm not sure where spare rooms came into this. If you're under 35 and single then, in private lets, the rent for a room in a shared house is all you get. Over 35 you can get the self contained one bed rate.

As the gent we're speaking of is 75 he might get some State Pension dependent on contributions before he went to work abroad. If that's low, or non existent, he'll get Pension Credit. Over pension age he can claim Housing Benefit for rent and a Council Tax Reduction.

Like it or not thems the rules. Seems reasonable enough to me; the idea of anybody, never mind a 75yo, being left destitute is beyond repulsive.

Where does anybody say he pissed his money away?

He had a business and it failed. Stuff like that happens.

It's odd that he thought it ok to move in with the woman he divorced, sell the house she bought post divorce (!) and pocket half the cash. Making her homeless in the process.

Be very aware OP. What is HE going to do to sort himself out?

Fair enough. It’s not as if he had spent all of his money (including withdrew his pension abroad and blew it all). Or expects the females (ex-wife, daughter etc) in his life to bankroll him and sort his life out. Oh, wait…

One of my favourite bits is where he expects ex wife to sell the property SHE bought and give him money. Entitled much?

So his ex wife needs to financially support him then?

Being kind needs to work both ways though @Bromptotoo

Was he being kind when he withdrew all of his pension as a lump sum and spent it?

We have got ourselves in a bit of a state as a society with 'be kind'. It seems to mean 'some people need to suffer a negative consequence on themselves to be kind to someone who isn't being kind back.' hello trans women

Was it kind of the bloke to spend his entire pension and then burden two different women with taking responsibility for housing, feeding and funding him?
It's OP I feel for, feeling obligated to research things for this man and accepted him in to her home.

I wouldn’t be putting him up op, certainly not for a month!! 😳😳

HMO is not a "house share" although it is a shared house. If a room is empty the others living there don't look for the new tenant or cover the rooms rent until it's filled, it's nothing to do with them. The LL rents rooms individually to whoever, they're not going to care about the age, only whether the person has sufficient income to pass the financial checks. With social housing being in shortage and generation rent often never owning their own homes, more and more elderly are going to end up privately renting. With private rents being usually way higher than the LHA for rental costs (housing benefit by any other name), that's going to mean people only affording a room not a flat. Social housing is allocated on need, when demand outstrips supply it's going to end up being given to those with a medical need to have a solo home without shared areas.

The privately owned over-50's places are expensive to run with the service charges because that pays for the warden, shared socialising area etc, costs way more than owning or private renting an ordinary one-bedroom flat with basic management charges. This man won't be able to afford a private rent in over 50s retirement flat on benefits.

So it'll be social housing or a HMO rental privately for him. Depending on whether OP kicks him out or lets him stay, availability of social housing in his area etc, that will determine which he ends up with. Doesn't sound like he has additional health needs.

I'm not sure where spare rooms came into this. If you're under 35 and single then, in private lets, the rent for a room in a shared house is all you get. Over 35 you can get the self contained one bed rate.

The self contained one bed rate will not cover the rent in a private one bedroom flat, even at maximum rate. A few properties yes but hardly any and they'll be the mouldy ones in bad areas and highly sought after even so. He can too up his rent from his other income but many people don't want to because it leaves then with little money for anything else, so prefer to rent just a room because it's affordable within the LHA rates.

Where does anybody say he pissed his money away?

The OP in her replies. He cashed in his entire private pension abroad (so no annual income just a lump sum) and instead of buying himself a home with it he spent it.

So he's a sponger.

And he's carrying on now he wants to be carried by us.

Op, I'd firstly consider, what sort of father was he to you, growing up? You said he went to live overseas when he was in his thirties, did he actively parent you and pay your mum maintenance? Ask yourself, do you owe him all this worrying and care?

He sounds like a massive ponce.