I’ll be keeping a keen eye on the eviction notices that have been served on rioters’ families by Wandsworth and the other city councils that are following suit.
Serving eviction notices are thankfully rare at Irwell Valley, but when they do occur, the eviction process can be overly lengthy incurring a costly drain on our business resources and compound the distress of the decent law-abiding residents affected and who must wonder what we are doing as responsible social landlords to make their neighbourhoods safe.
Earlier this year, I filmed a programme with BBC’s The One Show about speeding up the legal process. It can take up to 2 years to evict an anti-social tenant, so as well as the Housing Minister’s pledge to remove barriers to an eviction, the Courts must also back social housing landlords where there is clear evidence the ASB should result in eviction.
In one instance, by the time, Irwell Valley had obtained a Magistrates' order to evict a tenant who was using his house as a drugs den – there was clear evidence corroborated by neighbours, police and fire services - the property had been vandalised and stripped of anything of value. Consequently, we are left footing the costs. Costs that increased tenfold since serving the first eviction notice.
Thanks to the support and frequent updates from our Neighbourhood Managers, his neighbours were satisfied that we were dong everything within our powers to remove the ‘neighbour from hell’. If only we had been backed up by the Courts – sooner rather than later.
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Best Wishes,