Service charge more than rent!

[ImagineRainbows]

My adult child is about to move into supported housing as he has disabilities, as such renting in the open market isn’t possible for him.

These are the costs we have been quoted for a 1 bedroom flat.

Rent - £107 a week (payable to the LA)
Service charge - £130 a week (payable to the supported living company)
Care fees - Just shy of £2000 a week - paid by adult social care

The service charge covers gas, electric, water, repairs and maintenance to shared areas. It DOES NOT include any care fees as these are covered separately.

How is it acceptable that the service charge is more than the rent! More than I pay in utilities in a 4 bed house and more than anyone would pay on the open market but because it’s supported living it seems the can charge what they like and it’s vulnerable people being absolutely bankrupted with these insane fees!

Going to have to turn it down as it’s unaffordable which means he misses out on a place where he can be independent and have the care he needs. And we wonder why so many vulnerable people fall off the radar!

To me it seems like the rent is cheaper than I would expect for a flat and the service charge is more expensive. But put together 1k a month or just over doesn’t seem excessive for all that is provided.

I also think it’s very common for parents to subsidise their children when they first leave home but that depends on personal circumstances of course and if they can afford to.

The Universal credit doesn't sound correct. If he is disabled and cannot work then he needs to be assessed for work capability. If he has not had a work capability assessment then he needs to start handing in sick notes asap and wait to be assessed. If awarded LCWRA this will add another £416 per month to hos claim. If he is severely disabled then he should also be getting more than the amount of PIP you quote. Are the local authority taking some of his benefits towards paying for care?

Yeah that is mad & £81 carers allowance is ridiculously low.

That’s because the LHA rate is at that level so they are bumping it up with service charge.

We will be subsidising him massively already as all the additional costs of his disabilities will fall to us as he will need to use his PIP to live on, we can’t afford to pay these costs as well when the entire reason we were looking into this move is because we cannot financially manage any longer.

Are the local authority taking some of his benefits towards paying for his care? he should surely be on a higher rate of PIP and LCWRA element of UC ? £290 of PIP - is that just standard daily living and no mobility ?? If he has severe learning disability can he manage a journey alone etc?

Hi
please don’t turn this down until you speak to someone knowledgeable at Housing benefit
as this is council supported living there is a specific formula to working out what service charges will be covered by housing benefit
if the service charge is broken down to show each charge e.g gas, water electric these utilities won’t be covered
however if it the case that the services charges are all together then a specific housing benefit formula is applied

also services charges for cleaning, maintenance and repair of shared/communal areas should be covered as what’s called eligible service charges

please look into it as hopefully more assistance than you think is due may be possible

He get low care PIP. We appealed as I think he should be getting high but because he doesn’t need nighttime care, as he sleeps fine, he isn’t entitled to it. He needs every aspect of care doing for him, dressing, showering etc. but not overnight and that’s the criteria for the higher level.

I don’t know what LCWRA is? UC are aware of his disabilities however as I have a guardianship order over him and so his UC is all managed by me.

Yes that’s right. We have appealed and appealed and got nowhere. He has no mobility needs, it’s all mental and he doesn’t have overnight care needs hence he only got standard.

Higher rates of PIP have nothing to do with nighttime needs ( unlike children's DLA ). It sounds like he really needs a review. If he cannot manage a journey alone or would get panicky and could not mange public transport he should be getting mobility as well. There are two mobility descriptors on PIP, one to do with actual physical moving around and one to do with being able to manage a journey yourself/ finding your way around. Many people with severe learning difficulties would qualify on the latter descriptor.
He absolutely needs to start off the work capability process on UC.
Severely disabled people do not get the low amounts you are talking about - please speak to CAB or similar for help with getting him on the correct UC and PIP rates. If he has not been assessed for work capability on UC, then whoever is acting appointee for him needs to declare his health condition and hand in sick notes .He may of course already be getting the LCWRA element and the LA are taking some off him. Please do check his UC statement if possible.

I pay £200/month on service charges which is just building insurance and maintenance on properties I rent out. Tenant pays council tax and utilities. So the charge, including utilities, might not be abnormal. You can request a statement of where the money goes I believe.

He had children’s DLA all his life pretty much and when he was old enough it just transitioned over. He has never been reassessed. He can’t manage a journey alone, he can’t leave the house alone as he has no ability to understand road rules or keep himself safe. He was last assessed 2 years ago as having the functional ability of an average 7 year old. I provided all this to UC when I applied for him and have never been told about additional rates etc. I will make sure I look into this.

Every young person moves over to PIP at 16? If he has not then you need to query this also as he is potentially missing out on significant amounts of money. Highest rates of daily living and mobility come to over £750 PIP a month .

I’ve seen a statement. It’s mostly admin costs. It’s a strange set up where the private company rent the flats from the council and then sublet them to the tenant. So he pays the rent direct to the council but the service charges to private care company. It’s done this way as the people living in them are not able to enter into a tenancy agreement as they lack the mental capacity and so the care company are the ones holding the tenancy on their behalf (and charging a fee for this).

Yes he moved over at 16, but he turned 16 during lockdown and so rather than assess him as they would normally they just moved him over onto the same rate PIP as he had been getting on DLA.

Hi op as previous posters have mentioned he will be entitled to limited work capability, log into his online journal and message the work coach regarding this, they will arrange for you to fill in some forms, also, get in contact with PIP and update them on his needs, he should be getting a lot more than he is.

OP you aren’t claiming everything he’s entitled to.

His UC should be made up of three components. Rent- I imagine he doesn’t get this as he lives with you?

Single persons allowance- under 25 so £311

LCWRA-£419. You need to hand in 3 months worth of sick notes from the doctor to trigger the assessment for this. Ask the doctor for a sick note and explain what it’s for. They should give you one long enough to over the time for the assessment period. Then write on the UC diary that you have to upload it and they’ll add the option for it. Then you just wait for the assessment.

Also did you appeal his PIP award?

Hi op

as per my previous post

if the service charges are given as a single figure rather than broken down then they are included as rent for housing benefit purposes with the following deduction rates

Deductions for fuel service charges
Figures for fuel deductions from 1 April 2024.
Type of fuel service £ per week deducted

Heating
35.25
Hot water
4.10
Lighting
2.85
Cooking
4.10

Try and speak to a senior housing benefit officer and mention this and they should be able to assist

have just gone through similar but with sheltered housing and the person was entitled to more that we had expected meaning they were able to accept the offered accommodation

How frustrating that no one tells you this! He’s been on UC for 2 years now and I manage his claim and they have turned off all his work requirements as they know he isn’t able to do these and yet I have never been told to fill any forms in for assessment or to get a sick note etc.

We appealed the award when it was DLA. Twice in fact and lost the appeal due to the overnight care issue. Then it automatically transferred to PIP when he was 16 at the same rate as the DLA and so we left it at that as had appealed it before it transitioned and got nowhere.

It’s so frustrating that they don’t tell no one,it’s bad if you ask me, he’s been missing out on money that is rightfully his, I wish him all the best moving forward

When you say single figure. Does this mean on the agreement or the statement of how it’s spent?

On the actual agreement it’s one figure but the statement of how it’s used is broken down and shows that a large proportion of the fee is admin costs for them managing the tenancy on his behalf etc. (how this isn’t covered in the £2000 a week they are charging social care I’ll never understand).

If you need any more help please let this thread know

Thank you!

I at least know what to look into now.

Yes it’s very frustrating! Do this ASAP because he will be entitled to the money after the third month of sick notes. Even if the assessment takes 6 months to happen (it varies from area to area) they will back pay the claim to the first date he qualified for it.

I would certainly look at appealing his PIP with the help of CAB or the social worker who helped get the funding. The fact that he needs full time assisted living should certainly help the case.

You certainly need to get benefit advice and he most certainly should be getting HRC and LRM as he can’t go out alone be safe etc
although if he does go into full time residential care they will take his pip to contribute towards the care fees a close family member was in the same position. Last year
you need to get some proper advice

I assume they won’t back pay it for the 2 years he’s been entitled and no one told us about it?