We’re ALL being evicted from our homes – all of us are over 80 & some are so ill there’s nowhere to go

AN ENTIRE street of residents are being forced out of their homes – including a 88-year-old pensioner in poor health and a windowed single mum.

Vulnerable renters in Cheshire have been served with eviction notices instructing them to pack their bags and leave within two months.

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In total 10 houses been told to vacate their homes in Lake House Close, Weaverham, leaving some residents not sleeping, eating and “crying all the time”.

One of the residents being forced to relocate is an 88-year-old pensioner who suffers with heart failure, stage four kidney disease, and has to take 13 tablets a day “to keep him going”.

The company who owns the homes, Cedar Care Group – a “community interest group” – acquired the lease in 2023.

In a letter seen by local MP Mike Amesbury, it says the firm discovered the plot was “not being used for its intended purpose” by the former provider, reports MEN.

The homes are supposed to be used for social and supported housing and the firm added that they realised “a few tenants are vulnerable considering their old age”.

88-year-old Alan moved to the street to be closer to his son, Jonathan, 63, due to his health problems.

Jonathon, 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.”

A second resident called Sam lives in one of the properties with her three-year-old child after suffering the loss of her beloved fiance, who is her child’s father. 

She said the move is “disgusting and immoral” with regard to how they’re being treated. She claims the company is “completely uncaring”.

A third resident, Alison Simpson, who lives next door to her 88-year-old mum Doreen both received the Section 21 eviction notices earlier in the month.

The 56-year-old said that neither of them are “eating” or “sleeping” properly and Doreen is “crying all the time.”.

Letting agent Next Move 4 U said the landlord has “the right” to take his property back, and that there was no “threat” in the notices.

However, an accompanying letter in the notices states: “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.”

“I think we knew there were going to be repercussions from this, and we’ll just follow it through.”

Mrs Marsland’s husband, fellow director Alan Marsland, said the firm had issued over 300 Section 21 notices “all over the country in the last three years” and has never “gone to court.”

He said: “We compensate and stick with the tenants until something is found, we never put someone on the street.

“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’.”

Local MP Mike Amesbury has been in contact with the residents and has “demanded” that the eviction notices be withdrawn “immediately.”

He went on to say that although section 21 notices are “lawful” they’re “totally unethical and “inhuman”.

He finished by saying that he will be contacting Cheshire West and Chester Council to support any application to remain submitted by current vulnerable tenants.

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.”

The Sun has approached Next Move 4 U and Cheshire West and Chester Council for comment.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk