What does a 62 year old man on just above minimum wage do when served with section 21 eviction notice and cannot afford anything on the current rental market?

[Mxflamingnoravera]

I have a friend aged 62 who has been living in a pretty awful but liveable one bed flat for six years. He works full time in a call centre on little more than minimum wage. The flat was recently assessed by the local authority as part of a new local licensing scheme for private rental properties in our city. It needs a lot of work done on it and today he was served with a section 21 order because (he was told) the builders say it's too much work to have him stay there whilst the place is brought up to standard.

He has looked around an there is nothing under £900 a month in our city. He cannot afford this. He has no car and cycles everywhere. So he needs to live fairly close to his workplace.

He is devastated, he cannot live in a shared house at his age. He is a very private, shy man, has few friends and no family.

I'm at a loss to know how to help him. He cannot live with me, i have no space and do not want a lodger.

There is literally nothing affordable in our city. He is looking at homelessness in January. What happens to people like him?

That's been my experience. My 57-year-old cousin was living in a rotting park home and within a fortnight of being referred to a housing worker and a social worker (he has a learning disability but works FT) he had the keys to a small, very tidy 1-bed flat in a purpose-built development for over 55s in his area. I also know a woman in her late 50s, also working FT, who was offered a choice of two similar developments in the SW when her long-term landlord sold up a couple of years ago.

I haven't read the whole thread, but has anyone mentioned Age Concern? A lovely man visited my dear F in L and sorted out an extra allowance for him that none of us had heard of.

Have you seen the prices? £650 fir a room….

Lol at ‘trying to claim disability’.

You clearly have no idea how difficult it is to be recognised as ‘disabled’ by DWP and the likes.

@AllTangledUpInTitlesAndTiaras agree to that!!

Unfortunately, many people put off claiming PIP for example.
Some times because they don’t feel ‘disabled enough’ to claim. Some times because they are put off by how difficult it is and by the stress coming with it.

@Mxflamingnoravera I hope you and your friend find some of the suggestions useful. There are so many things like benefits and housing options we often don’t know about until changing circumstances force us to review our situation.

Please come back and tell us that he’s approached the council, Age UK, the CAB, whoever may be helpful, and is helped to find a positive solution. I wish him well.

He has just recieved a PandaDoc setting out dates for moving out and last rent etc. This document, according to my friend, SIGNS ITSELF when you open it. What can he do to prevent this being viewed as him signing this document when he has not read it nor wants to sign it? Is this legal?

I don’t know. Sorry. Shelter will be a great source of advice. I bet this is on their website. Good luck.

I’ve never heard of this, but I guess if the signature is just saying “I have received this” rather than “I agree” then it works - it’s no different to a read receipt.

Not read the whole thread as just had a bit of time on my lunch break but I work for UC. If he ends up renting privately: 37 hr week at minimum wage is take home pay of 1404.08 with 5% pension contributions. Bristol LHA rate for 1 bed is 695.02 plus standard allowance of 368.74. After deduction from award of 55% of earnings amount this would entitle him to top up from UC of 291.24.

Apologies if this has already been suggested and it won't directly help with the accommodation, but is he entitled to a free bus pass given his age? If he is, and if he can get to work by public transport it might widen the area of possible
places he could live.

As soon as the Pandadoc is opened, he says it disappeared and he has not signed it nor has any record of this document. It contained a date by which he must move out. He says he didn't sign it but it cannot now be reopened and he says it's a signature. He is in tears at work. I'm livid for him.

@dave bingo, thank you so much. This is so helpful. I know it's not exact but it does give him some hope. 🙏

Can he get accommodation lodging in a property with a granny attic/self contained annex/garden studio. He’d have his own bathroom & kitchenette and would be cheaper than a regular 1 bed flat or studio.

In most places outside London you don't get a bus pass until you reach State Pension Age which is currently 67.

Bless you @DogandMog if only it were that easy.

@winowin indeed it is doable- but it doesn't work like that- he will fail affordability checks with the 'computer says no' systems that the private letting agencies use.

Admittedly it was around 15 years ago, but I found cheap accommodation like that, as I’m in a similar position to your friend, in that I very likely have ADHD/similar and all my previous houseshares as a student/post-student broke down as I’d just get into a spiral of hiding in my room. The suggestion came from a place of empathy as there’s many people like me and him with MH/ND conditions for whom housesharing is hellish. There are such places out there, but often found via word of mouth, eg asking around at work, rather than the usual advert routes like small ads, spareroom, letting agent etc.

His work have kindly allowed him to be in the office and get legal advice, he has been hanging on the phone to Shelter for over an hour. I have sent him all the links from the fantastic posters who have offered local and knowledgable suggestions. So thanks for the links to Shelter, Stoll, SSAFA, Bristol Charities, Abbeyfield etc I would like to name all of you individually but scrolling back through all the messages is a big job and I am more useful helping him- but be assured, we are grateful. Abbeyfield has vacancies, quite a long way from his work and on the other side of the city but they look lovely and they are affordable. I am working away in the background sending him links to look at and he is trying to first sort out his legal position. Massive thanks to the poster who spelled out what he needs into four strands. It makes it seem more manageble for him.

I will start badgering him on the PIP front and will get the application form downloaded and get him to apply for it. I will give him my spare mini laptop so that he is not just reliant on his phone for filling in forms and acessing websites. God knows how people who dont have computers or wifi manage.

@Crikeyalmighty Other posters on here have said that £900 is manageable on his pay (it isnt without UC, not really, not after council tax, heating bills, etc but hey they say it is) do you think he will fail affordability checks if he goes for flats that are £900pm? That is worrying.

Apologies as not read full thread if this has already been suggested, but an elderly friend of mine was in a similar position. Her Landlady felt so bad at making her leave the house she'd lived in happily for years (Landlady had to sell the house due to financial difficulties and my friend understood this) that she advertised on local Facebook pages, saying she had a fantastic tenant who had to leave through no fault of her own and did anyone have anywhere to rent out that hadn't yet been advertised through the usual channels. They eventually secured her a one bed apartment from someone who was about to advertise but saw the Facebook Post first and was happy to rent to her.

Just read that affordability may be a problem. Please, please get him to apply for PIP and to get a full benefits assessment. You can do entitled to online to get an idea. People are scared of applying for PIP, but there are organisations that will help him. Again, apologies if this has already been mentioned.

Just saw his take home pay is 1700 per month, sorry I hadn't got that far in the thread earlier. This would make his UC top up more like 130ish but hopefully would still help a bit