My dad is being evicted

[Albadross]

My dad moved into a horrible hole of a flat in 1989 after my parents divorced, and has been there ever since, even though it was supposedly temporary.

He didn't contribute financially to my upbringing, and has always been in debt because he was determined to hold on to his graphic design business even though it wasn't worth anything. The result is him being on a state pension and now his health is failing.

The flat has lots of stairs, dodgy electrics, no central heating or double glazing, and one bedroom is so mouldy it's uninhabitable, but the landlords are a charitable trust who've never done the regulatory safety checks.

They're now evicting him to do the place up and rent it out for a lot more money. Their solicitor hasn't responded to his, and now they've issued a court summons which he now has to pay for (£350). He's convinced the press will want the story, and that because of the dodgy electrics etc they'll end up in trouble, but I just don't know if he has any comeback.

He's a hoarder and the place is crammed full of shit. He's convinced he'll end up in a bedsit and not have all his things around him, and he'll lose his life (which consists of some old friends he plays skittles with and his beloved Mac which he says he can't survive without). In his head it's either he gets to stay or it's the end of the world. He won't consider moving to another nearby village, and he won't put anything in storage either. A lot of the stuff he's just bought from charity shops, so it's not even of sentimental value.

As much as I want to tell him it's his own fault for not making any plans for later life, I can't bring myself to. I am however getting really sick of hearing him moaning instead of looking into other options. I lost my entire house and all my belongings in a fire, and he couldn't have been more unsupportive. It made me realise that most of what we accrue over the years is rubbish.

There wasn't a room for me to stay in at his when I was a child, and now he has a grandson I'd hoped he'd want to be somewhere safer so he could spend time with him, but this just doesn't seem to have occurred to him at all.

Does anyone know what the options are for a pensioner being kicked out of his home? Any advice would help - I'm all out of ideas!

I would suggest contacting shelter for advice.

I can't speak for any legal aspect as I'm not in the UK, but if he goes down the path of saying that the house has not been maintained and is unsafe, aren't they just going to deem the house uninhabitable and evict him anyway for "repairs"?

He apparently has a solicitor, but knowing my dad, he'll have 'listened' in the special way he does, meaning he'll have interpreted it all in his favour.

There's just no way he's not going to be evicted frankly, and all he's done by fighting it is cost himself £350.

I do however wonder how that charge can be his to pay given that their solicitor didn't respond to any of my dad's solicitior's questions.

The trouble is that his hoarding has probably also made the place unfit.

I suspect he will be given a bit more time as often happens at eviction hearings. Could he not clear out the house and live in one room whilst they do repairs in another? 1989 is after the rent acts went so he probably has an assured shorthold so could be evicted on notice and with a court order perfectly lawfully.

His benefits position once evicted will probably be better than if he moves out voluntarily.

I think they're likely to want to do it up to rent it out at a much higher rent than he can afford. He says he only gets £400 for accommodation which rules out anything that isn't a studio.

I've tried to tell him it's perfectly within their rights to give him notice, but he was determined and had convinced himself that if he told them he'd report them for not doing the safety checks for so long, they'd let him stay. Surprise surprise they just got a court order and weren't bothered about him reporting them.

Do the council have to house him?

Have you spoken to the council ? Would sheltered housing be appropriate ? I doubt he'd be offered anything substantial but it may at least be safe.

He's unlikely to get council housing because he's so far from being a priority. They are likely to refer him to a salvation army or similar if he can't find somewhere himself.

If he's disabled he may be able to find sheltered housing?

Otherwise it'll be finding a studio or whatever he can afford. He can let the council know what is happening but most have huge waiting lists, a B&B takes years around here and I'm nowhere near London!
As a single male he'll be low down the list.

It depends where he is . If he is over 55 and in the right area council run sheltered housing schemes may well have vacancies. Around here they are being offered to other singles who can't find private housing, even if not meeting the regular criteria, and as temporary accommodation.

He's 66 and has recently had major surgery (right before the court order was sent.

So does anyone know how the solicitor for the landlord can not respond to any questions, and then suddenly issue a court order which my dad then has to pay for? That part seems odd to me

Are you sure your father actually has a solicitor? And that the housing trust's solicitor didn't respond to his queries? If your dad has a history of hearing only what he wants to hear is it possible that he was making ridiculous demands of his solicitor and that these questions were never asked as they were irrelevant or unanswerable? Can you really rely on what he is telling you?

What questions do you think affect the tenancy? The landlord's solicitor (presuming that the landlord just served notice in the proper way to end the tenancy) isn't obliged to answer any questions - certainly there is no link between the validity of the notice and your Dad's obligation to move out, and answering any questions.

That's the problem with him - he creates his own story most of the time. I'm not sure how to help him other than to keep schtum. He doesn't like being told to 'make the best of the situation'

Actually, given that he has been there since 1989, he may have a protected tenancy and be quite difficult to evict. Do you know exactly when he moved in and on what type of tenancy?

Also what is the name of the charity? I suspect the charity commission would investigate the no repairs angle.

I'm not sure of the name of the charitable trust, and apparently even with that investigation he still can't stay. His original idea was that if he threatened them with that and offered to 'do up' (aka make the whole place look like the seventies) the place, they'd give in. But they haven't... I have no idea if he ever even had a tenancy on paper

He is almost certainly in a protected tenancy and can only be evicted under certain strict conditions, with court agreement. Has he spoken to shelter?

I don't know, but I will recommend them