No-fault evictions: Ten Cheshire residents on street told to move out

Ten residents on one street have been given two months to leave their homes after being served no-fault eviction notices by a social housing landlord.

Nearly every tenant on Lake House Close in Weaverham, Cheshire, including two 88-year-olds, were sent letters from Cedar Care Group saying they did not meet the criteria to live there.

The company said the homes were for vulnerable people.

Residents said they were devastated and had nowhere else to go.

Cedar Care Group operates as a social enterprise which provides homes for people who require additional support.

It said the ten Weaverham residents should never have been living in these homes, which was "a matter of deep regret".

Doreen Barker-Lamb, 88, said she could not stop crying ever since she opened the letter which said she has just six weeks to leave her home of 10 years.

Her eviction notice said she needed to be out of the bungalow by 12 May.

"It's the worst feeling I have ever had in my life. I can't sleep. I don't want to eat. I just feel sick. I don't think I'd have the energy to move," she said.

"I don't know what to do next."

She added: "I do wish they'd think again and help us. I've never missed a rent or anything. I just don't know what I've done wrong."

Her daughter, Alison Simpson, 56, who lives next door has also been served with an eviction notice.

"I don't like to see my mum distressed and upset and thinking things she shouldn't be thinking at her age.

"It's horrible to think people are making your mum of 88 homeless."

She said she was "really worried" about her mum at the same time as facing eviction herself.

"These places mean the world to us. They're not just bungalows, they're our homes," she said.

"I just don't understand why they want to move us out to move other people in. Are we not vulnerable? My mum at her age - you can't do that to somebody."

Jonathan Jones intercepted an eviction notice on behalf of his 88-year-old father who has serious health issues.

"If he had read that letter, the shock in the worst case scenario could have killed him," he said.

"Receiving a letter like that is a shock for anybody and someone of 88, it's just appalling."

Glen Petch, 61, a gardener, has also been served an eviction notice saying he has to leave by 30 April after living there for three and a half years.

He said: "It makes you feel very desperate and insecure.

"Not having a place to live alters everything - your health, your prospect, your outlook on years coming up."

As well as being evicted he told BBC North West Tonight he also had black mould in his home since he moved in and no hot water, apart from an electric shower, for two years.

He said although he had repeatedly complained, no repairs had been made.

Cedar Care Group said it would refurbish homes that were not maintained by the previous landlord

Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury, who is also shadow homelessness minister, said: "It's disgusting and immoral the way people have been treated and by a social enterprise which has the word 'care' in its name.

The Labour MP urged Cedar Care to "think again… and do the right thing" by withdrawing the Section 21 notices.

Cedar Care Group said the properties were not "full life homes" and were for vulnerable people identified by the council as needing extra support.

It said these ten tenants did not fall into those categories and should never have been living there.

"This is a matter of deep regret," it said.

The social housing group said if the council advised that residents did require support they could move back in.

Cheshire West and Chester Council said it had not been contacted by Cedar Care and was looking into the situation.

A government bill to ban landlords from evicting tenants without reason was first introduced last May.

It would mean that landlords could evict tenants in England only under certain circumstances, including when they wish to sell the property or when they or a close family member want to move in.

But the bill has not passed through the House of Commons yet.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokeswoman 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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