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Hounslow family evicted for antisocial behaviour (9 February 2016)

Date: 09/02/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Hounslow family evicted for antisocial behaviour

Hounslow Council has evicted a family after anti-social behaviour made the lives of their neighbours “unbearable”.

After the Miller family moved into Berkeley House in Albany Road, Hounslow, neighbours soon began to fear walking alone at night in the area as a result of the family’s drug dealing and drug use.

Hounslow Council said that groups of young adults started using the communal areas of the block in Brentford as an unofficial “chillout” zone for smoking drugs, including littering stairways and hallways with drug paraphernalia and defecating in the lift.

The council added that young children were woken up at night by arguments containing obscene and abusive language, which was coming from the Millers' home.

After months of living in fear, a group of residents approached the council's housing enforcement officers to plead that something be done about the situation.

Council officers worked with the police and the council’s professional witness officer, who spoke to all residents and took statements about how their lives had been affected by the Millers' behaviour.

A total of 13 residents described in detail the problems caused by the Millers –
and the police used the evidence to apply to the courts to stop anti-social and criminal behaviour at Berkeley House.

In December 2015, the Millers' home in Berkeley House, Albany Road, was officially closed by Ealing Magistrates' Court.

The closure order gave the Millers 24 hours to leave their home.

The family is barred from returning to the property for three months, during which time the council will start eviction proceedings.

In addition to the closure order, at Feltham Magistrates' Court Joshua Miller, 20, was convicted of criminal damage. Miller was handed a fine and a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), prohibiting him from entering Berkeley House and the surrounding areas for two years until 18 January 2018.

Hounslow's Cabinet Member for community protection, Councillor Richard Foote, said:

“What residents in this block had to put up with is the stuff of nightmares.

“No one should feel afraid or intimated in their own home – but the behaviour of the Miller family made them feel trapped and in genuine fear for their safety and the safety of their children.

“Statements from residents described floors drenched with urine, used syringes in grassed areas where children played – and people sleeping rough in sheds.

“One woman had to call her partner to escort her from the block's car park to her home, after she felt intimidated by ‘hoodies’ hanging around.

“In cases like these, there's often no ‘quick fix’ to resolve the issue – it takes time to build up the evidence we need to take matters to court.

“The result we eventually got would not have been possible without the statements from brave residents, who had enough of the Millers' ‘boozy’, drug-fuelled lifestyle.

“They can sleep easy knowing that we will do everything we can to ensure they never return to Berkeley House.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors – Nuisance Neighbours

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can advise homeowners, public sector tenants or private sector tenants on how to deal with nuisance neighbours under the law – including nuisance caused by noise intrusion, anti-social behaviour, harassment, threatening behaviour, alcohol-related nuisance, drug use or drug dealing, graffiti, criminal damage, fly tipping or waste in gardens, trespass, barking dogs and anti-social behaviour from minors.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide – and our housing team is also able to advise on tenancy agreements, Landlord and Tenant disputes, disrepair of rented property, unlawful eviction and breaches of health and safety.

For expert legal advice on housing law, call Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

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