Request for a Carers Bedroom

Kiki23 · April 13

Greetings fellow Scope team/members

Im new to this and being slightly autistic find forums a tad difficult to navigate, but I will try asking my questions on here and hope for the best…

Hopefully the lovely Poppy will see this and put me at ease as ive noticed her name a lot over the months when ive been reading posts that others have done and her responses/answers have always been amazing to read as she explains things so well.

im a single disabled woman living in a 1 bedroom housing association property. My GP and Consultant Neurologist have asked my housing association for a carers bedroom for me based on medical grounds as my care needs have changed and now require overnight care due to my declining mental and physical health for at least 4 nights a week but could sometimes be more (6pm-8am)

My care givers do not live with me either…

I receive ESA with the severe disability premium & High rate PIP for both components

Despite me giving my housing association a lot of medical evidence stating why I need the extra room the housing association have said that unless im in receipt of carers allowance, which would evidence why I need the extra bedroom, they will not be able to honour my request. They also said that if my carer was to live with me they could then consider giving me an extra room.

The 2 people responsible for my care have not applied for carers allowance for me before simply because 1 has a full time job and earns too much to qualify for it, and my other care giver receives state pension so she has not been able to claim it either.

Ive tried explaining this to my housing association and even had a wellbeing officer advocate on my behalf who explained to them that for me to be entitled to a carers bedroom it wasnt required for my care givers to receive carers allowance and they were not required to live with me either. I just needed to show proof that I need care for over 35 hours a week and needed to be on PIP (Ill post below what my wellbeing officer actually wrote to them)

Upon reviewing the criteria for a carer’s bedroom within the social housing sector (sponsored by Barbara Keeling under Labour 2014), I found no indication that receipt of Carer’s Allowance is a requirement. Instead, eligibility is determined by the following factors:

*Receiving a qualifying disability benefit, such as:

Higher rate of Attendance Allowance
Middle or higher rate of the DLA care component
Daily living component of PIP
Demonstrating a need for overnight care, where the carer does not permanently reside with the individual.
Miss X meets these eligibility criteria and has submitted substantial evidence, including proof of disability benefits and medical documentation supporting her care needs.*

Anyway scope team, im left feeling very confused as to what the correct criteria is for me to be entitled to a carers bedroom as my wellbeing officer is stating one thing and my housing association are saying the complete opposite…

Would anyone have any knowledge on this???

I look forward to hearing back from someone

Kimi87 · April 13

Poppy is taking a break from the forum.

I think there are two different issues here.

Generally the criteria for an extra bedroom to be paid for is needing frequent overnight care, and the same person being in receipt of a qualifying benefit.

This however assumes there is actually a spare bedroom, which you do not have. You can't be paid more in Housing Benefit or UC Housing Element than your actual rent is.

So presumably what you are asking is for the HA to give you a two bedroom property on medical grounds.

This is a separate issue and depends on your Housing Associations allocations policy. This should be available on their website. It may be that Carers Allowance or living with a carer is the only way they will allocate you a two bedroom property. You could investigate other social housing providers in the area and see how you would qualify for a 2 bed property with them.

Kiki23 · April 13

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1016436#Comment_1016436

Thank you so much Kim for your response,

Interestingly, I have just found out over the weekend about something called an "underlying element" of carers allowance.

It states that if a person who is caring for you earns too much, or is on state pension (at a higher rate that CA) it may still be worth applying for CA as they may be entitled to something called an "underlying element" which would show proof that I need care.

The main reason my housing officer refused my application to be moved to a 2 bedroom property was that no one was claiming carers allowance for me.

She said in her email to me, (please read below)

"Unfortunately Miss X, unless you are in receipt of Carer’s allowance which would evidence why you need the extra room, we are unable to honour your request"

Kim, if 1 of my care givers applied for Carers allowance and received the "underlying element" instead, could I then show that as proof to my housing association as to me needing care???

Basically, would the "underlying element" hold the same weight as carers allowance in regards to showing my housing officer proof of me needing care???

Kind regards

Kimi87 · April 13

There would be no harm in getting proof of underlying entitlement to Carers Allowance.

Unfortunately I cannot answer as to the weight your HA would give it.

Kiki23 · April 13

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1016571#Comment_1016571

Thank you so much for messaging me back Kim. I will now try to get the ball rolling on this Underlying element thingy and see where it leads,

Once again thank you so much for taking the time to help me

MVitarana · April 28

Hi. Have you had an Occupational Therapy Housing Assessment, and a report provided?

Kiki23 · April 28

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1022675#Comment_1022675

@MVitarana Thank you so much for your message. No, I havent had that assessment. I called adult social services twice last year when I was very mentally unwell and needed help…They took my details and said someone would call me back…Im still waiting for that phone call 10 months on…

Ive just seen one of your messages on another page saying you are an OT…I suppose you would be the right person to ask how does one get an OT housing assessment??? Ive had a wonderful GP Give a very detailed account as to what my care needs are, as well as a consultant neurologist explaining the same thing to my housing association, however my housing association seem stuck on this carers allowance criteria thing being a factor for an extra room. Ive tried to explain to them that my care giver has a full time job and cant apply for carers allowance as her earnings are to high and my mum is on state pension so never claimed it before for me either.

MVitarana · April 29

Sounds awful! Can i ask where in the UK you are? I think having an OT report will go in your favour! But some social care OTs wont provide a report, and some will!

Unfortunately the wait for an OT is so long, a lot of people are paying privately. If thats the route you want to go down, you need to ask the housing association if they will accept a private report, as some dont! Its really inconsistent!

Kiki23 · April 29

Good afternoon @MVitarana and thank you so much for taking the time to message me…I live in London. So am I assuming correctly that the OT report will hold more weight than a GP and Consultant neurologist recommendation??? Also where do I start with getting an OT. Does my GP have to refer me???

MVitarana · April 29

Which London Borough are you in? Some boroughs prefer their in house social care OTs to do the reports, or some will just say to get a private one. an OT report will definitely hold more weight because they are good at spoon feeding information.

Request for a Carers Bedroom

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