Housing ideas for elderly aunt on housing benefit

[Nightmanagerfan]

My DH's aunt is in her 70s and came to the UK before Brexit on a European passport, having lived her entire life in another continent. She has settled status and various relatives here. When she arrived she spent a couple of years living with a relative, but that broke down and she presented as homeless to the council (South London). She was given two temporary places, and this week on being told she needed to move again she was offered a place she didn't like as it had some shared facilities. The council have now told her to look for private accomodation, which i understand will be covered by housing benefit.

her budget is £1000 a month, which is tricky. we have looked at retirement flats but the waiting lists are long. she has hardly any money, no UK pension.

Does anyone have any ideas of what might worj for her? Thank you

This. No wonder there is not enough money to pay for people who have lived here all their lives and paid into the system. I wonder if her country would pay £1k a month if a UK resident wanted to live there?

Thanks so much PP I've had a look and there are a few options on that website. Appreciate it

Well exactly. Families are of the view every last benefit should go to them regardless of whether or not they need it.

The comments made on here about the state pension amount are vile.

Unl SS you had your own money you couldn't. In France you have to pay to see a GP.

£1000/mo isn’t much.
As she moved here post pension age, she should be eligible to claim the equivalent of the U.K. state pension from the European country she worked/lived in most of her life. Has she applied for it?

There may be companies that offer shared housing for over 55s. Like Sanctuary https://www.sanctuary.co.uk/housing-for-older-people

She's not actually from the country whose EU passport she is now here on, so no pension. The pension from the home country is tiny.

I mean, shared facilities in private rental at her age is by no means ideal. HOWEVER, my immigrant relative worked in the UK for 50 years and never bought a house when it was affordable. This relative is still in a bedsit with shared bathroom and claiming state pension/company pension, no HB.

I'm not sure why someone who is here without having paid in should be getting housing support when I think of the above.

IMO everyone is entitled to a decent standard of housing but particularly the vulnerable to which group she clearly belongs. None of us have any knowledge of her circumstances and how or why she has ended up in the UK and it’s not unreasonable for her to want to remain in a location that she is familiar with.

Maybe instead of drawing comparisons and vilifying OP’s elderly relative we should be raising expectations all round.

Some Alms options

What about this one in Pimlico?

Thank you for the suggestions. Most of the almshouses only take people from that borough, and some of the ones that are less strict about that don't take people with pre-settled status.

I think private rent is the best option, but she is not keen. I'm going to pull back I think, it's not helping!

I think private rent is the best option, but she is not keen. I'm going to pull back I think, it's not helping!

I think that's the best thing to do. She has the right to make poor decisions and you can't always be there to sort out the consequences for her.

Not sure that matters? Wherever she worked most of her life, there is usually a state pension? I see you say home country pension is tiny, but if she worked 10yr+ in a European country even if she wasn’t from there and is now here, she may still be eligible to claim the equivalent state pension. It was one of the Brexit conditions between U.K. and EU that British workers coming back can claim European pensions they paid into by working there and EU workers leaving the U.K. can claim U.K. state pension that they paid into while working here. In some cases, it’s credits that get transferred so say she worked 15yrs in european country X, that then can be counted as 15yrs credit towards U.K. state pension. See if you can get advice from the Embassy of her European passport country. That is usually who assists in these sorts of circumstances. If I have misunderstood you, I apologise in advance.

This post shows just how much housing in the UK has become a profit making business It is quite normal for an elderly person to want to be near their family

Yes and in this day and age when working age people often have to emigrate to find work and career opportunities you will have their elderly parents moving to where they are for family support. It’s very old fashioned to expect people to be born, grow up, find a career, raise a family and care for elder parents all while staying in the same village, city or country. The world is very different, people have to move to where the work is and their parents should be able to join them when they reach old age and still be able to access any entitlements they built up wherever they were on the planet when they worked.

My brother has entitlements logged in the US, Germany and now via a credit system in Asia towards his Netherlands state pension. If his children end up living in say Japan or Australia, he should be able to move there and be a retired granddaddy but still draw his state pension from his global work life. It’s getting more and more common. The idea that an elderly person must have worked all their life where they retire to get any support is very insular and parochial.

@MercanDede you're right but her circumstances don't fit this description. She lived and worked, and built up her pension in a non-European country. There's no agreement to gain a pension here, and she can no longer access the bank account the pension is paid into.

That is so sad! Are you sure she has contacted the embassy of the country where is she entitled to a pension for help? If it’s being paid into an old bank account she can’t access, that seems a simple problem to correct.

Is your aunt Russian, by any chance?

No, not Russian

Basically she has given up her passport for her 'home country' and part of their rules are that you can't remove money from the country. If she went back she would be able to access the bank account and bring cash with her, but she has no plans to return in the near future. I honestly don't think she considered this when she came here.

There has been no progress really this week, I expect she will be evicted from her current temporary home soon (it looks like this doesn't have to go through the courts as it's temporary accommodation), and as yet there is no plan. The retirement flats she's on the list for have huge waiting lists, and even if she is homeless it could be months. The council keep telling her to look at private rental but she doesn't want to - I have taken a step back as there's only so much I can do. I think she is hoping that a lovely retirement flat will magically appear in the area she wants, which we all know is unlikely.

Well unfortunatly the council offered he accomodation which she chose to turn down so she very quickly needs to come the realisation that she will be living on he streets.......ridiculous to have given up her own nationality .... and as she will soon find out - the streets of london are not paved in gold. Well done on stepping back OP.

An update for anyone who posted. The citizens advice bureau helped her put in an appeal to the council, and they decided that because the council made an initial mistake in giving her housing, they will continue to allow her to remain in her current flat. She's very pleased and it's a huge weight off the family's mind. Thank you for all your advice.

That's a good update @Nightmanagerfan !