[Nick Stiven]

Julian

Clare and Charlotte are both right.

WMC can usually be covered by Housing Benefit or Universal Credit even though it is not rent and the resident is not a tenant. That works because HB/UC looks at eligible housing costs, not just “rent under a tenancy”.

This is because:

HOUSING BENEFIT (HB):

Under the Housing Benefit Regulations, someone can qualify if they are liable to make payments “in respect of a dwelling”, even where:
• There is no tenancy.
• The arrangement is a licence.
• The occupation arises from charitable provision.

Almshouse residents fit this category because:
• They are liable to pay WMC.
• The payment is a condition of occupying the dwelling.
• The dwelling is their only or main home.

UNIVERSAL CREDIT (UC):

UC uses the concept of “housing costs liability” rather than rent.

A liability can arise from:
• A tenancy.
• A licence.
• A condition attached to occupation by a charity.

Again, almshouse WMC fits — provided it is:
• Properly documented.
• Not discretionary.
• Payable as a condition of occupation.

WHAT PARTS OF WMC ARE USUALLY ELIGIBLE?

Local authorities / DWP will look behind the label and ask what the money is for.

Generally eligible:
• Repairs and maintenance.
• Building insurance.
• Management and administration.
• Communal services (lighting, cleaning of shared areas).
• Warden costs (if not personal care).

Generally not eligible:
• Personal care or support.
• Meals, catering.
• Laundry services.
• Personal utilities inside the dwelling.
• Medical or social care services.

Many almshouses therefore split WMC on paper into:
• Eligible housing costs.
• Ineligible service elements.

This makes benefit decisions much smoother.

However, for most small almshouses, these distinctions are irrelevant as they are incapable of offering any of the ‘ineligible service elements’.

WORDING MATTERS A LOT

Good wording (which helps benefits & avoids tenancy risk) includes:
• “Weekly Maintenance Contribution”.
• “Contribution towards the costs of maintaining and managing the almshouse”.
• “Payable as a condition of occupation”.
• “This is not rent and does not create a tenancy”.

Risky wording includes:
• “Rent”.
• “Arrears of rent”.
• “Landlord”.
• “Tenant”.

Benefit officers will often still pay HB/UC even if wording is sloppy — but you’re relying on goodwill rather than being on a solid footing.

TYPICAL BENEFIT DECISION LOGIC (SIMPLIFIED)

The council / DWP asks:
1. Is the claimant liable to make payments?
2. Are the payments required to occupy the dwelling?
3. Is the dwelling their home?
4. Are the costs housing-related rather than personal?

If yes, then the WMC payments represent eligible housing costs, regardless of tenancy status.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Julian

Your annual WMC total, plus any investment interest, should, ideally, cover your annual running costs. Your major refurbishment projects should, probably, be funded from.any ERF or CMF. One would hope, if course, that you would strive at all times to keep your costs down.

Your WMC, expressed as a monthly amount, should have an upper limit equal to your local Fair Rent.

Holding your WMC down, such that you don’t cover your costs, is most unwise. If your WMC is below your area’s LHA, then you can, I think, presume that those eligible for LHA, will receive it. And those that don’t qualify will have sufficient private means. Both groups should be able to pay their WMC, therefore.

So, your idea of raising your WMC to actually meet the cost of housing and looking after your residents is spot on.

Your problem is the same as we had a few years ago. The previous heirarchy unwisely kept WMC levels artificially low ‘because of COVID’. However, neither running costs .nor LHA were reduced by COVID – indeed, the Ukraine War raised many costs, especially for energy. One consequence was that we had to skimp on maintenance to keep solvent.

Like you, we are now having to ‘play catch up’, raising WMC by at least 10% a year to straighten out our finances.

We started by holding a very frank ‘Town Hall’ meeting involving the Chairman, me and one or two trustees, explaining the situation to all our residents. Some of the figures quoted were that costs had gone up 40% over the past 10 years, but WMC had only risen by 25%, at the expense if the charity’s infrastructure. We also pointed out that the State Pension had risen by 100% in that time and that LHA, for those eligible, comfortably exceeded our WMC.

We then spoke in more detail about LHA and that this was available for all residents in financial hardship – and we would help them contact the local council if necessary.

We also spoke of our plans to improve our neglected infrastructure – ie the WMC was going to be applied to good purpose.

After 3 unwelcome, but necessary, ‘step change’ WMC increases, we plan to slightly reduce the rate of annual WMC inflation. But we nade the point that WMC would, in future, continue to rise – we would have no more naive ‘WMC holidays’, followed by further, enbarrassing, step-change increases when we belatedly realised that our costs never, ever, took ‘holidays’.

‘Honesty is the best policy’ here. Nobody likes to have to pay more than they’re used to. But if you make a good financial plan, explain it clearly, and stress that it’s all being done for the ultimate benefit of the residents – and that the State will support the poorest residents through LHA, you should be fine.

Yes, it was embarrassing to have to ‘fess up’ to our historic naîvety – but there you go!

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Liz

Yes. We provide Warden and site management services to a lodger outpost of 12 flats belonging to another almshouse charity. It’s carried out in accordance with a Contract for Warden Services which has run successfully since 1997.

Our lodger charity pays its own unique bills (eg ARC TV licences and resident/flat specific renovation and maintenance charges) and their residents are responsible for their own utilities contracts. Meanwhile, we apportion site-wide costs (Warden costs, of which there are several; cleaning of communal areas; and grounds maintenance) between us.

We have two ‘funnies’: the block in which our lodgers live is also shared by some of our residents, but has only one water meter and one ‘communal areas’ (ie foyer/stairs/landings) electric meter.

Thus, while we apportion site-wide shared costs by the fraction of the total number of units on site that each charity has, we apportion the cost of ‘communal water’ and ‘communal electricity’ in that one shared accommodation block by the fractions of the total number of flats in that block that each charity has.

I tally up the costs as we go through the year and issue a quarterly bill to the lodger charity. They, to even out their cash flow, pay us a regular amount each month, so that the quarterly charge is not too much of a hit.

Happy to share more details.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Charlie

We have appointed single persons, married couples and unmarried couples. In every case, every person living in our almshouses has been individually and separately assessed as a potential beneficiary. If any couple (whether married or unmarried) is appointed, it will be because each person involved is qualified in their own right and each will be given an individual licence to occupy.

If a partner then dies, or a couple were to split up, the surviving partner (or the partner who chose not to leave after a split-up) would remain as a qualified beneficiary.

We have had (qualified) widows remaining with us after their spouse had died, with no problems. So far, no unmarried couples have separated. We think, perhaps, that we make careful choices when they are selected.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Richard

My research says that, for most almshouse grant charities in England, the retention periods for grant applications would be:

* 6 years for successful applicants.

* 2 years for unsuccessful applicants.

* Thereafter, you should anonymise any data retained for long-term statistical tracking (because anonymised data is no longer ‘personal data’ under GDPR), and

* Document all this in a Retention Policy (ie Why you retain what you retain, why the periods you retain data for are proportionate, and why deletion any earlier would prejudice the charity).

Hope this helps

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Paul

The simple answer is ‘No’, because DBS checks are about risk to others, not moral worthiness or eligibility for housing.

If you look at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service/about, you’ll see that the Disclosure and Barring Service states, quite simply and clearly, that it ‘helps employers make safer recruitment decisions’.

So – one less thing to worry about?

You’ll be fine, actually, following the Association’s model ‘Notes for Interviewing Applicants’, carrying out all the common-sense checks they recommend.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Jo

We have inserted the following words into the model Residents Handbook (‘Services Provided’ section).

‘a. The Warden does not provide personal care or administer medication, because St John’s Hospital, Wilton is not a CQC-regulated care provider. The Warden is therefore unable to assist with the taking, management, or storage of medicines.

b. However, while we cannot care for you, we do very much care about you.

c. The Warden therefore offers practical support, signposting, and everyday kindness, and will work with residents and families to help arrange appropriate regulated care where needed.’

I hope this helps.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Hayley

Given that SAM Para 10.8.4 explicitly cautions us all against doing this, I doubt that anyone will be able to share any experiences with you.

Perhaps, if you have a specific worry, you should speak to the Association?

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Catherine

You won’t get far without incontrovertible proof, I!m afraid.

Have the resident keep a detailed log and make recordings, which you can study with a view to using them as evidence.

I have come across 2 residents, in the past, with super-acute hearing and one, it transpired, with a super-acute imagination to go with it.

One could, apparently, hear the flow of water in the central-heating pipes (‘What was I going to do about it?’ – well, actually, we found her some special earplugs, and heard no more).

The other was upset by the ‘constant’ clicking of her downstairs neighbour turning on/off her lights. And playing her radio/TV too loud. Also, she was the only one in the block who could hear mice in the roofspace. Making her keep a noise log was the cure – especially when she swore the light switches were clicking and the radio was being played when the neighbour wasn’t even in the town, let alone the block of flats.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Sandra

Yes — it is entirely appropriate, and often good governance, for trustees to step in. You wouldn’t be over-stepping; you’d be doing your job.

The letter should be:
• Calm.
• Factual.
• Non-accusatory.
• From the trustees / clerk, not the residents.

Think “firm but boring”, not emotional.

Key points to include:

• The trustees have been made aware of concerns.
• The almshouse residents are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of their home.
• Normal domestic activity (including visiting family and children playing) is expected and reasonable.
• Trustees ask that any concerns be raised with the charity, not directly with residents.
• Harassment or repeated interference is not acceptable.

You’re setting a process boundary, not escalating a feud.

What not to do (important):

Avoid: –

• Naming individual residents.
• Quoting hearsay in detail.
• Using words like harassment unless you’re comfortable standing by them.
• Threatening legal action (at least at first).
• Getting dragged into tit-for-tat specifics (“she said / they said”).

This is about behaviour going forward, not litigating the past.

Trustees might also keep a simple log of incidents (dates, general nature).

Hope this helps.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Yes, the Wessex Almshouse Group (WAG) plans to carry out benchmarking surveys every 3 years (the last was in 2025).

Contact me if you’d like to see an anonymised version of the 2025 report.

Don’t, however, use the collegeofmatrons@outlook.com address as I left that job over a year ago. Use the email address below instead, please.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Cath

No – PPP just deal with personal emergency/security calls that might otherwise be to 999. Also mains gas or mains water leaks.

If the problem is actually user-fixable, the Warden or I are called by PPP.

If residents have out of hours minor maintenance emergencies, they ring/text the Warden or me (yes, we would both be off duty),. We might explain any simple solution to the resident over the phone (eg ‘Have you checked your mains switch? Do you know where it is?’). For any really urgent, if minor, maintenance problem (eg boiler refuses to restart, or the mains keeps tripping), we would call out one of our retained tradesmen (we have regular use of local, self-employed, people eg a gas engineer/plumber, electrician).

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Cath

We have developed our own standalone (ie not networked) MS Access relational database that records personnel information (past, present and future) for Residents, Employees, NOK and Trustees, plus information on our Properties (basic data such as flat/cottage, number of bedrooms, floor area, type of heating, fitted appliances etc).

It would be possible to add key maintenance records (eg date of last landlord’s gas safety check etc) to the Property table. As well as, for example, a To Do list for each property.

Our accounts are entirely separate from this database.

Do contact me if you would be interested in the Access DB (obviously, you would need to be able to operate MS Office).

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Cath

We pay for it and can thus justify having only a part-time Warden.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

[Nick Stiven]

Cath

Our Warden is .’On Duty’ 0830-1230 Mon-Fri only. She acts as Site Manager and as a Welfare Officer (ie ‘general advice and tea and sympathy lady’) during these hours.

Emergencies are handled 24/7 by our telecare provider (PPP Taking Care) who are contacted through their digital units, one in each flat. The Warden is informed by PPP of all emergency alarm activations and will assist if she is on site.

If she is not on site (eg afternoons, weekends or when on holiday), she will still be informed (by phone from PPP, but is not expected to drop everything and ‘return to base’ – PPP will mobilise the emergency services or one of the caller’s nominated contacts as appropriate.

Nick Stiven
clerk@stjohnswilton.org.uk

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