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.

Get her on the housing list now. I did it for someone recently and the wait for sheltered accommodation is a lot shorter than normal. There is over 55 and over 60 sections.
Make sure you have all her medical information and any drs details.
In our area (not London but big city) we were told 12-18months wait

The council can't help her YET.
They will help her eventually but it will be a long road.
Firstly your friend's mum does not have to agree to a rent increase. The Landlord will then have to take her to a rent tribunal. If the rent tribunal agree that the rent can be increased, and she cannot pay, the landlord will need to evict her.
Once the court has issued an eviction notice, which will take months, possibly a year, THEN the council can help her.

She won't get moved straight into a nice council flat though. She will probably be in temporary BnB-type accommodation for a bit but suring that time she will be a housing priority and will get a place relatively soon.

However the council have no obligation to house family members who have not got settled status here.

No, we are looking for one bedroom flat with a living room that is not joined with the kitchen, and her granddaughter is not going to be on the tenancy agreement since she is under 18, turning 18 in a 4 months and once she's 18 she's probably gonna rent a room somewhere. Until my friend and her daughter gonna get settled status they can't claim any benefits, we already applied for the settled status for them, just waiting for a decision now.

she is turning 67 soon, so we'll try that. Thanks

well she did apply for jobs this summer but didn't get it, and now she is back to school, she is a bit of a troubled teenager to be honest and doesn't look like she is willing to help financially

if we decide to use this route and she gets evicted will she need to pay the difference in rent that landlord wanted and also court and tribunal charges later?

Try this:

https://www.myclarionhousing.com/find-a-home/rent-a-home/livesmart-homes-for-older-peopleIf

I'm afraid that question goes beyond my knowledge but I think she is legally allowed to continue paying the existing rent until she agrees a new rent or is evicted. I also believe that court costs wouldn't be charged against her unless she behaves illegally and it is perfectly legal to stay put at the agreed rent until evicted. If she has already signed a new contract agreeing to the rent she can't afford then this wouldn't apply. I am not legally trained so you should check with Shelter to ensure this is correct.

Very much drip feeding as a lot of properties for older people would not allow a teenager to live there too !

Lack of settled status doesn't preclude you from claiming benefits - it's just a bit more "nuanced" for those with pre-settled status etc. but it is a bit of a specialist area of benefit / immigration advice. The LA might have a "people from abroad" team who give advice etc.

I very much doubt sheltered schemes would allow a 17 year old to live there too, plus in a one bedroom flat they'd be classed as overcrowded. Would have been useful to give this info in the original post.

Unfortunately the 17 year old living with her will make things very difficult unless she can be classed as a young carer. You could give the granddaughters details to your mums Gp and have this registered on her records and at the granddaughters educational establishment and her own Gp (if she is genuinely providing care and support). Your mum and granddaughter could then apply for a two bed flat to Barnet under medical grounds. If they were lucky enough to be awarded this, I'm sure there'd still be years long wait to get a two bed property unfortunately. If the granddaughter doesn't have eligibility for council housing, she can't go on the tenancy but could be a household member.

Or the granddaughter moved out and your mum applies for sheltered housing via the council or housing associations.