Hi there everyone,
I have been a carer since I was 10, although it wasn't until I was 16 that I called myself a carer (I am now 21). I provide overnight care for my mother who has a range of issues including mental and physical disabilities. I have disabilities myself, but due to my mother's paranoia, she won't allow anyone else to care for her. I do not get carers allowance as the Government don't deem her disabled enough for higher rate DLA despite being on ESA support group.
The issue is, is that I live in Wales currently, and my mother in London. I make a 14 hour round trip every week. I can stay from 2 days a week to pretty much the whole week. It consumes my life. As a result, I have based my University choice around this urgent need for less travel. I will start Uni in september in central London.
My biggest problem is housing. My current lease ends on August 31st and I have nowhere to live. I live with my partner and we have been looking for months. We have everything we need bar a guarantor as we have no one close who fits the basic criteria. But we will be on LHA (Local Housing Allowance) due to our income being quite a bit short of basic rent in London. So far we have been discriminated against or told we will need to pay extortionate fees/provide an unrealistic guarantor. All because we need help topping up the rent.
What I wanted to ask was if anyone knew of any schemes to help carers live near to the people they care for. I would live with my mother, but our mental disabilities make it difficult for us to live together for prolonged periods of time. And I also have my partner now, and I cannot expect him to share a single room with me on a long-term basis.
Any help would be appreciated. And apologies for bombarding my intro post with issues!
I am more than happy to help anyone with benefit issues as I have been filling out ESA forms since I was 15! Been through a Tribunal (for my own ESA) and a quite a few WCA's. So I have a lot of experience with the DWP system.
Thank you all!
I have been a carer since I was 10, although it wasn't until I was 16 that I called myself a carer (I am now 21). I provide overnight care for my mother who has a range of issues including mental and physical disabilities. I have disabilities myself, but due to my mother's paranoia, she won't allow anyone else to care for her. I do not get carers allowance as the Government don't deem her disabled enough for higher rate DLA despite being on ESA support group.
The issue is, is that I live in Wales currently, and my mother in London. I make a 14 hour round trip every week. I can stay from 2 days a week to pretty much the whole week. It consumes my life. As a result, I have based my University choice around this urgent need for less travel. I will start Uni in september in central London.
My biggest problem is housing. My current lease ends on August 31st and I have nowhere to live. I live with my partner and we have been looking for months. We have everything we need bar a guarantor as we have no one close who fits the basic criteria. But we will be on LHA (Local Housing Allowance) due to our income being quite a bit short of basic rent in London. So far we have been discriminated against or told we will need to pay extortionate fees/provide an unrealistic guarantor. All because we need help topping up the rent.
What I wanted to ask was if anyone knew of any schemes to help carers live near to the people they care for. I would live with my mother, but our mental disabilities make it difficult for us to live together for prolonged periods of time. And I also have my partner now, and I cannot expect him to share a single room with me on a long-term basis.
Any help would be appreciated. And apologies for bombarding my intro post with issues!
I am more than happy to help anyone with benefit issues as I have been filling out ESA forms since I was 15! Been through a Tribunal (for my own ESA) and a quite a few WCA's. So I have a lot of experience with the DWP system.
