Elderly Mum on council list

Opiemum

hi all, my elderly mum has recently found out that her private rented house won’t be renewing the tenancy. She’s absolutely devastated and stressed (dad only passed away at the end of 2022) so this is an added worry.
She is in receipt of AA and we have adult services appointment tomorrow as her GP has referred her, he is concerned about this added pressure and stress.
Her council have been useless, once we managed to get my Dad removed from the council list application, we were within the 52 days of homelessness, we filled in this form, but were still ignored and properties not advertised as the council were having a remodel of their site.
Well luckily for us, her lease has been extended, as if it were for the council she would probably now be going through the courts to get her out of the home.
I honestly can’t help my mother accommodation wise as I’m in a small home with two children who have complex needs.
Can and will Adult services support her? And will her mental health issues be enough to move her up the list, she is currently a 4 and we still can’t bid on anything! The whole aspect of also having 52 days to find and a property due to the homeless prevention team seems mad when we know she has a homeless date.
I’m so stressed as I don’t even feel we have grieved for Dad passing, I also have lots of admin myself with my girls and education.
What can I expect from Adult services? This is all so new to me. Many thanks for any advice you can give us

Rachel_Scope

Hi @Opiemum, welcome to the community 😊

I'm so sorry that you and your mum are in this situation, and I'm sorry that you don't feel you've had time to go through the grieving process. There is always so much to deal with and it can easily take over. I'm glad she has an Adult Services appointment tomorrow. I hope they are helpful and give you some answers to ease your mind. Here's a link to lots of information about Adult Social Services and what they can help with https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/ .

Council housing isn't something I'm very familiar with but here's a link to some information you may find useful https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/apply-accessible-housing-association-council-housing .

Will you keep us updated and let us know what Adult Services say? Make sure you're looking after yourself, it's an easy thing to forget to do when we're worried about someone else.

poppy123456

When a tenancy comes to the end of the fixed term it becomes periodic. It doesn't need to be extended. A landlord can't evict a tenant, only a court can.

Has your mum received a S21 for eviction? If so then you need to check that it's valid, this will help with that. (assuming she's in England)

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction/how_to_check_a_section_21_notice_is_valid

She does not need to move out by that date and if she does do that and has no where to live then her local Authority could say she's made herself intentionally homeless. If she has no where to live by that date she needs to stay where she is. The landlord will then start court proceedings but this can only happen if the S21 is valid.

There's more information here.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/eviction/getting-evicted/renting-privately/if-you-get-a-section-21-notice/#:~:text=If%20you%20get%20a%20section,stay%20longer%20in%20your%20home. The most important thing is that she doesn't move out by that date if she has no where to live.

Has she referred herself for a needs assessment? If not then she can do that. An Occupational Therapist can put in recommendations to move house and push her further up the list to a higher band.

Opiemum

Thank you for your kind replies. The Landlord has extended the lease to January so we have some breathing space, 3 months was just impossible. She has had a needs assessment and we are waiting for his report, though he did state it’s more her mental health that she is struggling with and as she has myself and my sister, he didn’t really see any care needs. He also stated that mental health would come under the health bracket and that we should go back to the GP to obtain a statement which would hopefully help her achieve a higher band on the council list.
I think in his report he will write about the stress that housing is causing, and he will also reach out to housing as her current council just aren’t replying to us regarding the fact we can’t bid on any property.