…It has come to my Notice, after 21 years as a full time constant carer for a Totally Retarded lady…We are “Bums”!!! This is what i was told in a round about way by an estate agent!!!..A stay at home, doing nothing getting Benefits!!!..Not working at all!!..I was so mad i could have screamed!!.. I was looking for another property to move into, because the house was not able to be used because of medical problems & medical need the landlord could not, or could not pay for, But then the real problems hit…Estate Agents would not even put me on the rental list why? Because i am not classed as working!!. I was told also, that any kind of housing benefit no matter what the reason? would not be even looked at, Owners won’t have them in the properties…I was so outraged I contacted my Local mp…she does me from charity work i do, and charity events for the town council…She has passed on my complaint to the PM David Cameron…I have asked about addressing Parliament myself or the PM about the Carers in the uk, and the classification they have as Constant carers…We are not Bums!!! we work just as hard as anyone, even harder why? We clocked on…and never clocked off!!..They go home at night, we live with it all the time 24/7…We as carers save the government millions how? Hospitals and council run institutions cost £600pw…we get a tiny pittance, and still war are classed as rubbish people!! not even worth being in the housing market at all, as we would never be given any rented property at all…Landlords don’t want us in their houses…I do tell them… I have fantastic Reffs good/ house keeper/ dont drink/smoke/no pets/ mid 50s…I am told "Sorry your not WORKING!!!..I am going to ask the David Cameron to change the “Classifications Of a Carer” to Working!!! I would love some support from the public… I live in Hastings East Sussex…A Short way from London…but i promise i will take this head on, for the sake of all the Carers in the uk… We need to be recognized and Supported for the Good work we do…What do you all think??
Hi Pamela,
As I understand it, one of the problems with housing benefit is that a lot of buy to let mortgages specifically exclude landlords from renting to people who are in receipt of housing benefit, of any kind, for any reason. There are, apparently, similar clauses in insurance policies which mean that it is much easier for landlords (and landladies!) to rent to people who are in paid employment, rather than those who fall under other categories.
I think essentially the problem is that successive governments chose to privatise housing instead of builing new council houses (or just not selling off the old ones). So now, in the same way that I can’t get a loan from my bank because I’m not ‘working’, the availability of rental property to me is restricted to landlords who don’t have certain clauses in their mortgage agreements, or the sort of landlords who are renting out properties they own outright, or that they just have a normal mortgage on. Add to that that the amount of housing benefit payable is restricted to the bottom 20 or 30% of the average rent in an area (I can’t remember which now), and that they keep faffing about and changing the amounts and or the circumstances under which you can claim, plus the fact that they are chucking people off benefits left right and centre, and you have a really big problem. (This is all stuff I’ve been told by landlords and/or estate agents about how they get away with stating ‘No DSS’ on adverts).
Local councils can help with housing benefit friendly landlords if you are looking at the moment; they usually have a list of people who will rent to those on HB.
Have lost count now of the number of people who have asked me when I’m going to go back to work, and the times I’ve been called a loser, a scrounger and a lazy cow. I just smile now and envisage running them over 
If we were reclassified as working then the government would need to pay us the minimum wage!
What is the problem with the existing property by the way? Someone might have a solution.
Mum who cares - I just love your final sentence “I just smile now and envisage running them over” made me laugh and I don’t even drive 
But not meaning to make light of a serious subject.
I read this thread yesterday morning and it came to mind later when I called my insurance company, Swinton. I wanted to change the details of the policy but their underwriters wouldn’t take on the changes so the ‘customer service advisor’ said he would have to refer it to some others but couldn’t give a decision because of my employment status. When I asked him to explain that, he said ‘because your unemployed.’
Hackles raised, sleeves rolled up, try not to swear
I shot him down on that point and said, ‘don’t you ever refer to me as unemployed again. I haven’t got time to be unemployed, and if I was, I’d be on more money.’
He’s calling me back this morning.
Surely it’s daft to call anyone not in paid work ‘unemployed’. By that definition a millionaire living on the profits of his investments is ‘unemployed’!!
As a genuine question, can full time carers not be considered ‘self-employed’ by the Inland Revenue? If so, I doubt they’d have to pay tax, as they are unlikely to be making any money caring, are they!
But maybe there are good reasons that isn’t possible. Not sure if you have to pay NI contributions when you are s-e, even if you don’t make any/much money!
I live in Hastings at the moment… the landlord is a sweetheart and a good man… He is happy to rent me one for ever…lol Problem is i now have medical conditions myself…being a full time home carer as well, My Daughter wants me to move down to cornwall close to her… But The landlords in cornwall and the Estate agents alike are not happy im a carer!!..This is a big problem…Regards
…“”.I pay taxes and my stamp"“”
Pamela, it might help if you advertise yourself down there, as it were, get your daughter to put some ads in local newsagents and that sort of thing advertising you as a model tenant, can provide references etc, HB due to caring responsibilities/health problems etc. I’ve found in the past that people respond quite well to that, it’s also worth asking estate agents if they can keep their ears open for landlords that would be sympathetic to your situation, I have found word of mouth is better than cold calling (although it is difficult when you live far away). Also get your daughter to tell the world and his wife that you’re looking; I got our current place via a friend of a friend of a friend, would never have got it through an agent but it just so happened that someone mentioned a place was coming up and someone else mentioned they knew I was looking and we were in. It’s much harder work but there are people out there. It would also be worth getting details of the local housing allowance and your elegibility for HB so you can prove you’d be able to get it, if you see what I mean. Plus if you can rustle up more than the first month’s rent to put down that can help too.
Good luck!
I have my family and friends looking for me…all i can do now is try and get a winter let…and store all my things…I can look next year myself…
…I have but problems with 3 nasty families But for many, neighbors range from nuisance to nightmare. What can you do about it? Nothing but get out…I am saving like mad to do just this…but Renting a house is a nightmare none are around…not for full time carers like myself…I Live in 4 walls with a retarded lady that at one point had Roll-your-own type of cigarette, thrown in her hair!!! then i had to get the police…but nothing happened…now? I don’t go out, if i can help it…The lady in question I care for is 62 and just had ovarian cancer and now all this? its all too much…sorry the reply is late but i have had to deal with this mentally handicapped lady with the cancer…she is fine now by the way…Regards…Pamela