Can't find a flat to rent for pensioner

[Archie123412]

Hi all,

My friends mom is a pensioner, she is single, she gets a small pension, just a bit over £200 and also gets pension credit and housing benefit, no private pension, she already could hardly pay rent, bills and buy groceries but now landlord decided to increase rent by almost £200, she can't get more in benefits as they already pay her max that she can get, so £200 is a lot for her. She can't work either because of poor health, has just £2000 in savings and no property.
We are trying to find her a cheaper place to rent in Barnet council (this is where she currently lives) and areas near by but as soon as we say that she's retired, doesn't work and gets benefits agents come up with some excuse not to rent to her. She is a UK citizen and lives in Barnet London for 5 years. Any advice what we can do to help her find a place to live? Moving to a completely different area will be very hard for her because of poor health and she'll also need to find new doctors and hospitals to go to, plus she'll probably need to be referred again if she moves to a different council and as you know it can take a very long time to get a referral and with her health condition waiting too long can be fatal but of course NHS won't care at all.
My friend is renting a tiny room and can't take her with her and renting a flat together is also not an option for her since my friend is on a low income and she's not gonna meet agency minimum income requirements anyways.
Please help, we are completely lost here.

There are specific housing rentals for the over 55s which are usually easier to get onto the lists for the standard council housing. But I don’t know of any specific to Barnet. Has she tried the council? Or local age concern should have lists.

Well we spoke to the council last year when landlord increased rent the first time and Barnet said they don't have any available council housing and since she is renting privately and not homeless they can't help her in any way.
How can we find this Local Age Concern?

There might be some here
https://housingcare.org/housing-care/facility-info-8443-birnbeck-court-barnet-england

If you look down the list there's over 55 properties to rent. You could phone Shelter for options. Call the council housing department and see what they recommend. Try a shared house or flat, she might enjoy the company.

Age UK Barnet
Later life planning service (aged over 55), free and confidential information and advice on welfare and benefits, housing or support services as well as how to keep healthy and active.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 432 1417 0208 432 1417

Age UK Benefits calculator

If she's unwell can't she claim PIP?

My mum had her own house and sold it and moved into a lovely over 55s housing association flat.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/care/housing-options/sheltered-housing/

www.independentage.org/get-advice/housing/housing-options/sheltered-housing

They will not help her until the eviction takes place IME. So she will need to be at them of the notice period with homelessness imminent (ie tomorrow) and then they may help. It's horrific, but a direct result of the selling off of council properties over the years starting with Maggie.
Could she take in a lodger instead? Stay where she is but let a room out? It doesn't affect your tax up to £7.5k pa so the same may apply to her pension credit. Just a thought?

Are there any Almshouses she can go on the list for ?

I don't have a good solution. I've found it impossible to find somewhere affordable, secure and suitable for my increasingly immobile dad and he has a fairly ok pension. The rental market is so shit for older people.

I just looked on Rightmove, there are some retirement flats for rent in Barnet.

Barnet is notoriously dreadful for housing, unfortunately. Definitely try the organisations mentioned above.

https://jesushospitalcharity.org.uk/housing/

She definitely needs to speak to the local Council about joining their Housing Register etc. and as you mention Health etc I would also see if they have an additional "medical" form that can be completed to support her application (to corroborate the need to stay in the existing NHS trust area because of treatment pathway etc).

I would also be looking to apply for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) if the imminent Rent Increase is going to mean there's a shortfall between her Housing Benefit award and actual Rent costs.

I don’t know about Barnet specifically but most areas have 55+ rentals through housing associations. The usual first step is to contact adult social care. Tell them she is not able to manage anymore and they will do an assessment. Given that she has health problems she will be approved. These flats become available very frequently because people tend not to move into them until they are nearing the end of their life. I have been through this with my own MIL. Housing benefit covers the entire rent.

thank you for the advice, we are definitely gonna try that, didn't know there might be additional support available such as DHP

Her granddaughter also lives with her, she's not her official carer but she still lives with her, she's 17 and still in school, so there is no room that she could rent plus her tenancy agreement doesn't allow to get a lodger

thanks, the thing is that her granddaughter also lives with her, I don't think they'll allow her to live there with 17 year old who is still in school. And my friends mum is not her official carer

thanks, the thing is that her granddaughter also lives with her, I don't think they'll allow her to live there with 17 year old who is still in school. And my friends mum is not her official carer

Does she get the child benefit for the granddaughter?

No, because her granddaughter and daughter are not UK citizens yet and they don't have settled status yet, so they can't claim any benefits, including child benefit, plus my friends mum is not her granddaughter legal guardian so probably she can't get child benefit for her, or can she?

OP you would have got more useful responses if you had put all this information in your OP. I recommend the Citizens Advice.

@Archie123412 ah that's a bit different. I suppose you are looking for 2 bed flats for them to live together.

I wouldn't want to give any advice about claiming benefits for someone who has moved from abroad as it is very complex. Suggest you speak to citizens advice etc.

If she is over 66, she can claim attendance allowance, it is not means tested

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

Can the grand daughter get a part time job ?