In an extremely rare and truly shocking case, a long-term council tenant has been awarded substantial damages after housing officers ‘conspired’ to get him out his home ‘at all costs’ and arranged destruction of all his personal possessions.
The man had been the council’s tenant for more than 20 years; however, he had fallen into rent arrears because his housing benefit was insufficient to cover his bills. Over a six-year period, the council had obtained possession orders against him but their execution had four times been suspended to give him time to pay.
When the tenant failed to win a fifth suspension – he by that time owed more than £2,300 in rent arrears – the warrant for possession was finally executed. The entire contents of his flat, including his passport, laptops, personal papers and furniture were removed and sent to a refuse disposal facility for destruction.
The Court found that three employees within the council’s housing department had conspired to evict the tenant come what may. An officer had failed to put the full facts of the case before the judge who refused the further suspension and the council’s own tenant protection policies had been ‘short-circuited’.
Attempts had been made to ‘cover up’ the plot and the result for the unfortunate tenant was that he was street homeless and without financial resources for more than a year, having to resort to living on friends’ sofas. The Court found that the three officers concerned had used ‘unlawful means’ to evict the tenant, to destroy his personal possessions and to ‘cause him harm’. He was entitled to substantial damages; however, the amount of his payout was agreed by the council in a confidential out-of-court settlement.