Everyone living on one UK street have been told they must pack up and leave their homes.
All the residents of Lake House Close in Weaverham, Cheshire, received a letter telling them they must vacate their homes within two months after their non-profit landlord served 10 homes on the street with 'no-fault' eviction notices. Residents have spoken of the 'terrible impact' the notices have had on the community, including upon two 88-year-olds — one of whom is so ill that his son has not told him of the situation, fearing for his father's health— and a single parent who lost her fiancé, the father of their three-year-old child.
Alison Simpson, 56, and her mum Doreen, 88, live next door to each other. They both got letters on March 12 saying they have to leave by May 12. Alison said: "We have no idea where we will go. I'm trying to put myself aside and worry about my mum. She's so upset that she's crying all the time. Neither of us are eating properly and we're not sleeping properly."
Alison used to run the Ring O' Bells pub in Weaverham. She added: "We both have bad hearts, and this could just push my mum too far." Alan, also 88, moved to Lake House Close to be closer to his son after he had health troubles. His son Jonathan, who is 63, said: "I was there when the letter came through and - bearing in mind his health conditions - I wasn't prepared to tell him at the time. I still haven't told him because he suffers from heart failure, stage four kidney disease, he's on 13 tablets a day to keep him going.
"The company states quite clearly on its website that it provides accommodation for the elderly, but on the other hand they are prepared to make the elderly effectively homeless. It doesn't make the slightest sense." Landlords Cedar Care Group, a 'community interest company' that 'does not trade for profit', got the lease for the homes in March 2023. CheshireLive has seen a letter to local MP Mike Amesbury from the firm saying it found out the site was "not being used for its intended purpose" of social and supported housing by the previous provider.
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The company said it knows "realise a few tenants are vulnerable considering their old age," and has asked for forms to be filled in to send to Cheshire West and Chester Council so these residents can stay "under the supported housing provision." But the council says the group hasn't talked to them yet. Jonathan finds the forms "really confusing". Cheshire Live tried to talk to Cedar Care Group but received no answer.
Another person living there, Sam, is with her young child after her fiancé died. She thinks the eviction notices are "disgusting and immoral." Mr Amesbury, the MP for Weaver Vale, met with the people living there. He said: "I'm demanding the company withdraws these Section 21 notices immediately. While Section 21 notices are currently lawful, they are totally unethical and inhuman. The opposition's position is within the first 100 days of Government; we will introduce legislation to abolish no fault evictions."
Mr Amesbury said: "While Section 21 notices are currently lawful, they are totally unethical and inhuman. The opposition's position is within the first 100 days of Government; we will introduce legislation to abolish no fault evictions."
The MP said he will also be contacting Cheshire West and Chester Council to support applications for affected vulnerable tenants to remain. The Government's Renters Reform Bill was supposed to ban Section 21 no-fault evictions, but this aspect has been delayed, he added.
Letting agent Next Move 4 U, who delivered the notices for the landlord, said the landlord "has the right to have his property back," and that there was "no threat" in the Section 21 notice sent to residents. However, the accompanying letter from the agent includes the line: "Failure to comply with this notice will result in a possession order being issued and finally we may have to instruct bailiffs."
Julie Marsland, Managing Director of letting agent Next Move 4 U, said: "The landlord has the right to have his property back. It is his property, it's not theirs. We do understand the stress a Section 21 notice can cause; it's not something we delight in doing or want to do, but if the landlord needs his property back, the landlord should be able to get his property back.
"We do understand the vulnerability of quite a few of the people, but I'm not the old owner or the new landlord, we just run a letting agency in Worsley putting tenants in properties and selling properties.
"We, for the past three years now, have been helping people who have bought, for instance, blocks of flats, and they want them empty, which the new landlord has a right to do. I do know, when we served all these notices at Lake House, that one or two of the residents told us these stories.
"Obviously, we didn't know when we gave the notices out, the situation of the tenants or how old they were. I know quite a few of them have been in touch with Cedar Care Group direct, and Cedar Care Group has responded to them and explained to them why they want possession of the property."
Mrs Marsland said: "I think we knew there were going to be repercussions from this, and we'll just follow it through." Mrs Marsland's husband and fellow director, Alan Marsland, said the firm had issued over 300 Section 21 notices "all over the country in the last three years, and we have never, in 300, gone to court. We compensate and stick with the tenants until something is found," he said. "We never put someone on the street."
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"The previous registered provider had put the wrong type of tenants in there. They should have been tenants that required some support from the local council. Technically, all the tenants in there are what would be termed as 'private tenants'. These properties also require extensive works. I would suggest in the region of £35,000 a property. A couple of the properties are terrible places that have been let go to neglect, and you can't do the work required while people are in there."
A Cheshire West and Chester Council spokesperson said: "These properties are not owned by the council and there are no council tenants living in this accommodation. As yet we haven't been contacted by Cedar Care Group about these properties. The council expects that the landlord will manage the eviction process sensitively, taking account of any vulnerable people, and providing the necessary time and support for them to secure alternative accommodation. In a situation where the tenants are at risk of homelessness within 56 days, the council has a duty to act and support tenants to secure suitable alternative accommodation."
"The council's Housing Options team are looking into the situation for residents of Lake House Close. Any residents threatened with homelessness should contact the council's Housing Options team on 0808 175 3595 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am - 4.30pm) and (Wednesday 1pm - 4.30pm)."
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: "Our landmark Renters (Reform) bill is progressing through Parliament. It will deliver a fairer private rented sector for both responsible tenants and good-faith landlords. The Bill will abolish section 21 evictions – giving people more security in their homes and empowering them to challenge poor practices."
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