Help moving house

Information & Advice case study
Outcome: Moved house, no longer feels isolated

A 77 year old lady had been widowed for 10 years and was in poor health. She asked us if we could help her register for social housing, as she’d lived in the same farm cottage for nearly 40 years in which time the landlord hadn’t updated the property, which was riddled with damp with fungus growing under the carpet. She felt isolated as the cottage was on its own and miles from a main road. She wasn’t able to get anywhere without a taxi which she could ill afford and she had no family, few friends and none that could visit. Her spirits were very low and she felt like giving up.

We supported her for over 9 months, helping her apply for social housing and supporting her during the bidding process of the Home choice scheme. We liaised with Housing Standards at Environmental Health to inspect her property and submitted a report to Devon Home Choice which secured gold banding status for her. 

We referred her to Torbay care trust for care needs assessment, supported her through inspections of properties offered by Devon Home Choice and completed a Community Care Grant application for her.

As a result of our help she was moved into sheltered social housing in Torbay, where we supported her to select and purchase carpets and furniture etc for her new home, as well as supporting and assisting her with all aspects of moving home. 

She no longer felt isolated and her health and wellbeing were much improved due to the warm dry housing and the ability to mix with new friends in the sheltered housing.

She said: “I feel as if I have been reborn. I will never be able to repay Age UK Torbay for all they have done for me.”