Case study – March 2022             

​

Details:

Client presented at reception looking for some help. Client lives in a Stevenage Borough Council (SBC) 2 bed property. Client's father was the tenant but died 2 weeks previously. The father had been a tenant for over 20 years and client had been their carer, claiming carers’ allowance. They were in the process of adding the client to the tenancy, and had an appointment with SBC to sort this but the person from SBC did not turn up.

​

Client is disabled and has some mental health problems. Due to the case being dealt with in reception and there being no private facilities it was decided that we would call the client back to suggest a way forward.

​

The client is concerned and wanted to know that the tenancy is secure and they are not at risk of becoming homeless.

​

How we helped:

An adviser phoned the client. Client was advised that the landlord may argue that client succeeds to the tenancy, but not the property, and could, if it wished, move them to a smaller property. 

 

Client would not be averse to this in the long run.  Client was advised that they meet the conditions for statutory succession, as there was no evidence that their father had succeeded to the tenancy. We drafted a succession request for the client.  As their email is not working at the time, they preferred to pick up paper copy, sign it, and deliver to the landlord.

 

We printed two copies for the client to collect. The client has recently been awarded Universal Credit and is in receipt of ESA.  They had been advised that their carers’ allowance would carry on for about 8 weeks before stopping.  We advised the client to inform DWP of this.  The client has also been helped to apply for council tax support.