Benefits in retirement?

[Zebedee999]

Hoping someone can give me a pointer as to any help that would be available for my friend when they retire...

My friend rents a modest house, earns a modest wage, has no savings and is likely to receive about £1,500 p.a. private pension and a full £12,000 p.a. state pension when she retires in 5 years time.

After rent and council tax there would be nothing left for food/heating etc. Is that the outlook they will face? Or is there some housing or other benefit they could claim to supplement their income?

She and I know nothing about the benefits system so don't know if there would be any help at all in this situation.

Thanks for ay help and peace of mind you can offer.

Id try a couple of different calculators like the entitled to one. Are there no private pensions to try and track down? Lots of people forget about them and there may be some small supplement income.

You can claim help with housing but it’s capped as to what size house you need therefore if there is one adult or a couple occupying it will pay the rate for one bedroom based on the local authority rate. The first thing they can do is consider downsizing to somewhere which is more affordable and covered by the local authority rate, I would also suggest speaking to a specialist in finances for older people to ensure she chooses the best option in retirement. There is also the common option these days of seeking some part time work, easier in some locations admittedly but in tourism oriented communities a lot of the seasonal staff are retirees of late

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support/reduction can be claimed from their local council.

If Housing Benefit is capped due to LHA rates could consider applying for discretionary Housing payment whilst she looks for cheaper accommodation.

OK that's helpful. Will look a the "entitled to" calculator now. Thanks.

That calculator was helpful thank you.

If she owns a house with a spare bedroom she could rent to a mature lodger to help her finances

It says in the OP that she rents.

Age UK website might be helpful. They have lots of information and a benefits calculator.

They also have a helpline and you can book a telephone benefits check.

How old is your friend? She might need to keep working a while.

If people over state pension age work
They pay tax
They do not pay National Insurance

Downsize to a cheaper property ?

Suggest this

https://www.gov.uk/plan-retirement-income

Also apply for free bus pass

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Have you checked Pension Credit? For low income pensioners.

With the earnings cap not rising, almost all of any extra pension will go in tax. The outworkings of selling off council homes is coming home to roost. Its very uncomfortable to retire in rented property. If you had to move,where does future deposit, fees etc come from whilst living on half the 'living wage' sorry no help but i feel so for the many people living a worried life in retirement. Retirees deserve better. Well done OP for trying to help. In rented im not sure you can sublet to a lodger........

@Zebedee999 As your friend rents it is worth looking at over 55 rental accommodation, particularly on the Council Website.

She will get housing benefit to help with the rent.

Sheltered housing worth looking at if they have it near her.

Use the Age Uk benefits calculator and just change her date of birth to make it look like she's already state pension age. It depends how much rent she pays but at a guess ( I do a lot of benefit checks for retired people ! ) she would likely get some housing benefit and council tax support if savings less than 16k. The housing benefit would be capped at one bedroom rate though.

People getting the new state pension are above the pension credit threshold unless they are eligible for extra premiums like disability premium or carers premium. It doesn't sound like this is the case here and she also has the small private pension on top of the state pension.

Get her to contact AGE UK they have loads of information and are really pleasant to deal with.

That private pension value seems very low for someone close to retirement- unless she has not been contributing very much at all.
I'd double check that figure for starters.