‘You won today’ — protesters stop council from evicting Hackney family with disabled child
Photograph: Sara Dell’Acqua
Protesters from the London Renters Union (LRU) have temporarily stopped the eviction of a family of five — including a disabled child — ordered by Hackney Council.
Bailiffs arrived at the residence in Lower Clapton at around 10.30am on Tuesday (10 February). However, the demonstration seemingly prompted them to leave shortly afterwards. One bailiff told an LRU member: “You won today”.
An estate manager spoke to the activists and said the bailiffs wouldn’t come back that day.
Five police officers were called to the property amid concerns that the chanting could disturb other residents — but left without making any arrests.
Photograph: Sara Dell’Acqua
The family has lived at the property, managed by Suffolk Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) for more than 20 years and has never been in rent arrears.
But the tenants say the council has proposed they be moved to temporary accommodation more than an hour away from Hackney following an ongoing tenancy dispute.
According to the council, the family has been illegally subletting the house from its previous occupier, who now lives abroad. The family claimed they have been paying rent directly to the council through a use of occupation agreement.
Critics say the move would be extremely disruptive for the disabled child in particular, as they would lose their existing support system in the local area. The child’s disability also makes travel difficult.
LRU member Hannah Caller says she, together with doctors and teachers, has warned the council about the negative impact the eviction could have on the child and the family.
Caller told the Citizen: “We are not prepared to see the life of this family disrupted because of a squabble with the tenancy”.
The LRU is now calling on the council to use their discretionary power to let the family stay in their home. The union, which has around 7000 members across London, organises resistance action against evictions when their members are in need.
Hackney Council said they “fully recognise how sensitive the situation is” but that “the demand for social rented housing in Hackney far outstrips what is available in the borough”.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “While we fully understand this is a distressing situation for the family, they have been illegally subletting a home from the tenant who moved abroad several years ago and who did not legally transfer the tenancy to the family before they left the country.
“As the home was not legally transferred, unfortunately, the family has no legal rights to the home. The court has supported our case to evict them on the basis of tenancy fraud.
“We fully recognise how sensitive this situation is, with the family’s circumstances of living in the home for a lengthy period and looking after a child with additional needs.
“Like the rest of London, the demand for social rented housing in Hackney far outstrips what is available in the borough. Notwithstanding this challenging environment, we have offered the family a four-bed home close to Hackney, with good transport links to enable them to continue to access their support network”.
The council said the eviction would go ahead at a later date.