Legal News

Housing association tenants on a Brixton estate in south London have complained their landlord is trying to intimidate them by erecting barricades around the estate, after tenants challenged a proposed redevelopment of the estate.

Housing association The Guinness Partnership claims the fences have been erected for health and safety purposes. Security guards have also been posted on the estate.

The Guardian reports that the existing estate is due for demolition so that flats can be built on the land.

Tenants currently living on the Guinness Trust estate say Guinness has left families with nowhere to go – and they dispute the housing association’s claims that the regeneration will increase the number of social homes on the redeveloped site.

The tenants say they have been left feeling intimidated by the fences and security guards on site – many tenants have been served with orders to leave their homes and the sudden erection of fences last week and presence of dozens of security guards has left them afraid they are facing imminent eviction.

One of the tenants told The Guardian that she was challenged by security guards when she visited the local shop – and also felt intimidated by a dog they had with them.

Betiel Mehari, 42, lives on the estate with her two sons aged seven and eight. She says the fences appeared without warning on Tuesday (28/04/15) – and the first she knew of them was when security guards stopped her leaving her home on the estate through her usual route.

“I wanted to get milk for my children from the local shop and I was stopped by four security guards,” she said.

“They said to me, ‘You can’t go this way, you have to go the other way through the alleyway.’

“I was really shocked,” said Ms Mehari.

“We didn’t have any notification and I was really confused. I came back and I saw it on social media.

“Up to now there has been no information from Guinness – then this morning, I went out and they’ve got a dog.

“I asked them why they’ve got a dog to intimidate women and children, and they said, ‘This is our pet.’”

Days before the fences were erected and guards installed, around ten women and their children had blockade the estate in protest at the regeneration plans. Some women with children are remaining in their homes on the estate in defiance of possession orders obtained by the housing association, The Guardian reports.

They are all short-hold tenants –and although Guinness has agreed to re-house some of the single tenants on the estate, the housing association has said it does not have any properties for families to be re-housed.

Ms Mehari is not at immediate risk of eviction after she challenged Guinness’s possession order. She is waiting for a court date to argue that the housing association’s decision to evict women and children without offering alternative accommodation breaches its charitable status.

The Guinness Partnership said in a statement:

“We are providing 487 new homes for social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership at Loughborough Park – none of which will be for outright sale or for rent at market rates.

“All existing tenants with secure tenancies will move into homes in the new development and will continue to pay social rent.

“We understand this is a difficult time for the 20 assured short-hold tenants and have offered them a range of financial and housing support.

“We’ve been clear from the outset they would not be entitled to be re-housed when the site was redeveloped.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can advise social housing tenants on a wide range of housing matters, including short-hold tenancies and Section 146 Notices (notice to quit) – as well as Section 193 (council’s obligations to house).

Duncan Lewis is also a leading firm of Legal Aid housing solicitors also able to advise on:

• Disrepair of rented property
• Housing possession
• Landlord & Tenant disputes
• Local Authority housing
• Nuisance neighbours
• Unlawful eviction.

For expert legal advice on housing law, contact Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.