Friend evicting elderly tenant

[AppalachianWoman]

Would it change the way you felt about your friend if he evicted an elderly (70+) tenant so he could move into the house instead? The rent was paid upfront through a lifetime of agricultural labor from late childhood but the friend who recently inherited the estate feels they are owed cash payments and the property. The tenant cannot read or write and was widowed a year or two ago, has no children of his own but some step children from his marriage. The friend currently occupies another, smaller, property on the estate and was expected to move into the largest house which is very grand indeed but requires extensive renovation. He is daunted by the work and expense and has instead become fixated on the property the elderly farmhand lives in.

It feels emotionally immature of me to drop a friend over a difference in values but I am shocked that he would even consider this course of action. I don’t want to be friends with someone who acts this way, how can I exit gracefully or should I try to support him as he has supported me emotionally through decades of friendship?

As others have said , if he’s lived there since the 80s your friend is unlikely to get him out. However the stress could be very detrimental to the poor tenant.

Poor man. I remember how stressful it was when my DMs landlord decided to sell up and evicted us 9 days before Christmas many years ago. Goodness knows how that stress would affect an elderly farmhand! 😔

Completely understand why it's making you look at your friend in a different light.

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/farm_workers_living_in_tied_accommodation

Happily your friend will find eviction very difficult - effectively impossible if he was there before 1989

I’d tell the friend what I rhought

and I would then help the tenant in any way I could

I wouldn't just think less of the friend, I would tell them what an absolute cunt they were being and then dump them as a friend if they continued with the plan to evict this poor man.

Absolutely.

@Feef83

he really has told you very personal detail about his tenant…. Which was wrong of him

I think we can all agree that this baddie from a Thomas Hardy novel isn't exactly presenting himself as Philanthropist of the Year here, so I doubt he sees flinging a load of personal information around about somebody he sees as some kind of indentured serf as anything to get terribly worried about.

Hmm, think this may come under the remit of modern slavery legislation these days.

Think the tenant does have an assured tenancy tho but this is very complicated & may be different for agricultural tied accommodation.

I'd definitely look out for the tenant, this will cause him immense distress.

My friend is in the UK, the farmhand worked for the relation who bequeathed my friend the estate. Friend is not a farmer so has contractors who take care of that. I will see about contacting someone who can advocate for the farmhand, it may be a legally permissible act but the inhumanity of it is distressing.

maybe the tenant can also claw back underpaid wages from the estate….

Surely his position would have been made clear by the solicitors who were handling the inheritance.

Sorry… what the actual fuck. Is this not modern slavery??

I agree with others, this is Dickensian. He worked, hard physical relentless labour, rain hail or shine I imagine, I also imagine no paid holiday etc etc and in exchange for that he get a lifetime in the cottage. But when the new landowner isn’t getting the direct benefit (but has got the indirect benefit of being left something built partly by this man’s work) he tosses him onto the street.

a strait swap between the properties would make the most sense, but this seems to have been ruled out in case the farm hand benefits from a new kitchen.

He may struggle to evict his tenant. But, on a practical level, the elderly chap should register with his local council.

Someone his age would certainly be eligible for elderly sheltered/supported housing, and the demand tends to be lower than normal housing.

Perhaps someone could help him to register?

Very old tenancies have different rules to the modern assured short hold ones. But if he’s not paying rent that’s different, exchange of money for accommodation makes a tenancy. Hopefully there is a way for him to continue living there but I suspect not- the landlord is entitled to their property and there will be a legal
process for them to follow.

morally, of course, it is completely wrong on so many levels.

The farmhand needs to seek legal advice - this sounds like slave labour and he may be due compensation.

So the vulnerable elderly chap worked for your friend and was paid £60 a week and got to reside in the house for ‘free’?

You need to ring the police if that’s the case!

We had old tenants on a very old tenancy agreement that we inherited when we bought our house. We knew we'd have to wait until they died to get the property back. In the end, the woman fell in church and fractured her pelvis on the stone floor and that was the end of that. She couldn't manage the house any more.

Absolutely this, it’s appalling and I can’t believe anyone with a conscience would even consider it. I would not be referring to this person as a friend any longer & would support the elderly man to access legal support if I was able to.

Your instincts are telling you this is very, very wrong OP. And you are right.

I just could not sit laughing, chatting, having a coffee or a drink with this person. Couldn’t spend a single minute more in his company. Because I’m a coward though, I would write him a letter rather than telling him face to face.

Absolutely abhorrent to me.

And no, I honestly couldn't remain friends with someone who would even consider doing this.

Oh dear that's not good
We have a few of these landed estates round where I live and the loyalty of the estate workers is indescribable. And often their family has been part of the estate for generations.

If a friend of mine was trying to kick an old boy out of his house like that, I'd have to say something. My experience of this has been the local estate allowed all modifications social services/OT wanted to put in. When the tenant died (and he'd been born in that house) then the estate refurbished it and it was relet. To another young estate worker as his first home. That's the usual way of doing things. Your friend shouldn't be kicking him out, people will talk for starters and that won't be good for the family reputation.

I just wanted to say how I completely support your view. It is undeniably cruel to make an older person leave the home they have lived in all of their life (regardless of the legal issues). Particularly when there have clearly been agreements in place to offset wages against accommodation. It makes me feel sick and I’m glad you’re considering getting support for the gentleman.

That’s so sad. We have a similar situation in a village near us with some knobs that have inherited a large house and half the village. They’ve evicted people who have been there for years, one of whom is severely disabled and won’t find anywhere else to live easily . The last ‘lord of the manor’ (I think he was an actual lord) although a right funny old bugger had some sense of the obligations that come with being in that position. Younger generations are so much greedier. The new owners have been ostracised for how they’ve behaved.

I would tell you friend he’s being an entitled knob and it won’t make for a happy life in the long run.