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?

The streets and crisis accommodation aren't exactly private either. A share house or lodging is going to be better than that. If it's not an option what is going to happen if it comes to the crunch? Will you take him in for a bit or let him go to crisis accommodation, which is sometimes just for sleeping space? The more limited his options, the greater the risk.

I’ve used Spare Room a lot and it’s not just house shares for young people.
I’ve in the past looked for older people to rent an annexe I had and other types of non sharing accommodation.
It may be worth him putting a profile up -perhaps he could offer something like caretaking as well as a bit of rent. Being older is not always a disadvantage.
I have some older friends who live in a flat rent free as the wealthy owners needed someone to keep an eye on their next door property.
Rare but not impossible.

Some great advice has come in this morning, thanks to all of you who understand and get it regarding sharing. I think the UC will be the key thing that makes a difference for him. Neither he nor me knew he could claim if he was working full time. He scrimps on everything but food and only just gets by now (think second hand clothes, no heating on, wearing clothes and a hat to bed, going to bed early in winter to keep warm) so UC could just make it possible to find private rented and make ends meet.

People are advising based on what they think his entitlements and obligations should be rather than what they actually are.
The government under benefits legislation does not expect a 62 year old to occupy a single room in shared accommodation. The ceiling age to be expected to do this is 35.
Your friend is entitled to support based on a one bed self contained property. Whether MNetters believe he should be or not.

It is not rude to state that he is not a candidate for house share. Please just stop, we are trying to avoid this, not actively considering it. He is clear about this, I know him. You don't.

This is not unusual. I work in homelessness services. Just housed a nice middle aged woman with another one who was a landlord. They are both private people. This is just where we are now

@5128gap thank you 🙏 . I really appreciate your support.

I think @SingleMum11 was annoyed at the PP who seemed to be suggesting that if he managed to get himself a diagnosis of ASD he’d jump up the housing ladder. That’s certainly how I interpreted it too.
Sadly, obtaining an assessment for a possible diagnosis is nigh on impossible via the NHS these days, and very costly via self funding. The OPs friend needs help now, not in 2 year’s time.

Sometimes there are very few options. It may be very surprising to you but working in this sector I can assure you it is not that unusual

He can and should stay until evicted as otherwise he would be viewed as making himself intentionally homeless- but honestly single men are so far down the council priority list they won't home him even then most likely. I'd still stick with that process though, but have everything packed/ in storage and ready to go so when the bailiffs do come, he has all his stuff.

People are advising based on what they think his entitlements and obligations should be rather than what they actually are.
The government under benefits legislation does not expect a 62 year old to occupy a single room in shared accommodation. The ceiling age to be expected to do this is 35.
Your friend is entitled to support based on a one bed self contained property. Whether MNetters believe he should be or not.

It doesn't matter if there are no one bed properties in the LHA rates though. It's impossible to get anything in that price range here

No, she's not. She knows this man; no one on here does.

Hi OP, you are a good friend to this chap and you've had some great advice here, pls don't be put off by the not so helpful posters. It's a lot of frustrating work to navigate the system but support is out there, Shelter and CAB offer great support, although they may be very busy too so you may need to be patient/persistent to get in to see them.

My tuppence worth is that your friend may well be better off in the long run in social housing, as there will be no risk of him being evicted again in future, and his current landlord doesn't sound the best as he's allowed the flat to get into such a bad state. It may be disruptive to move now but easier now than when he is older.

How many times do I need to say, we know that shared is looming, we are trying to avoid it if at all possible. And by the sound of it with a top up of UC it may be possible to avoid.

*SingleMum11 · Today 08:30

@readingwalker my son could never live on his own and has minimal language. So no, I seriously doubt he’s the same as the gentleman described - and I seriously doubt he’s just been diagnosed because it’s easier now! I find that really objectionable and it still stands - it’s immoral and unethical to be pushing diagnosis in order to gain housing points. Pretty disgusting to be honest*

Autism is a spectrum and being on that spectrum on one end or the other doesn’t mean someone is less worthy of help. It doesn’t mean they don’t have their own issues navigating a NT world.

This guy given the description is more than likely on the spectrum.
Why can’t he access help if he needs it? Why can’t he gain points to help with housing if he is ND?

What if someone comes along and tells you that you are disgusting getting help as their ds is non verbal and your ds does have some language ability

PS as others have said the social housing market for over 55s is completely different from the general market so all the comments about single men being low priority can be safely ignored.

he cannot live in a shared house at his age

No adult working full time should have to live in a shared house if they choose not to. However, I wouldn't advocate giving someone extra help just because they were older.

I think he will have to go into something shared for a few years but given his age he should qualify for a state pension soon and then he might choose to carry on working for a few more years with a much better income. He should also qualify for various elderly benefits at that point (and live somewhere cheaper) when he does retire.

Many shared houses have an upper age limit, many I have looked at don't want anyone over say, 40. Not all of them of course. Hopefully he will get a housing association flat.

I can recommend joining this group there are many similar posts to yours there and you can get good help from members:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/tenancymatters

What terrible times we are living in when someone who works full-time can’t even afford to rent a one bedroom flat. It’s heartbreaking. And so wrong.

OP, be sure to follow up the Stoll Nomination link I posted earlier.

It's worth asking about it. His service in the Armed Forces may be sufficient for a nomination to be possible.

He will need to contact SSAFA to put his application together.

https://www.ssafa.org.uk/bristol-south-gloucestershire

OP, people are giving you opinions, personal experience and advice which you asked for. No need to be rude.

If he can't or doesn't want to share, then he doesn't have to. No one is saying he has to. It was floated as an option and people were rightly pointing out that sharing a house doesn't necessarily mean 6 people piled into a student terrace with 24/7 noise and no privacy.

If you just wanted a moan about the state of social housing/Tories/evil landlords then just say so. But you asked for for advice and you got plenty of it. No all the advice will suit but people only have their own experiences to go on. If you want professional advice then speak to the council or a housing charity.

Or she is sick of people thinking they are so clever to come up with "he can share" as though no-one else has said it.

OP has said repeatedly it is not an option. Yet posters keep opining it. Pointless

The Local Housing Allowance rates for Bristol suggest a maximum rent of around £700 pcm for one bedroom self contained accommodation. Is that the figure you used? If so then he may be ok.

@Mxflamingnoravera you mentioned that he might still be able to look into private renting if he gets UC. I think it might be better to focus on getting him into over 55’s accommodations through the council as it would be far more secure for him.

Just thought I’d mention it so that you/he can consider what might be best long term from that perspective.

Wishing him good luck in finding a good home. You’re a great friend and advocate.