Steven and his family are being forced out of a council house they have lived in for over two decades due to a legal technicality that prevents tenancy being succeeded more than once, reports Marco Marcelline

A man who is being turfed out from the council flat he has lived in with his family for decades says he is being treated like a “criminal”.
Waltham Forest Council is planning to evict him, his wife, and two adult sons, at 8am tomorrow morning (Thursday 1st August) because of a legal technicality that prevents council flats from being passed down to a family member more than once.
The tenancy of the Walthamstow home Steven and his family live in was already re-assigned from Steven’s deceased father to his mother on Boxing Day in 2011.
Steven says he has been unsuccessfully trying to get the flat succeeded to him ever since his mother, who suffers from dementia, was placed in a care home in 2019.
According to the council, tenancy can only be succeeded once.
Speaking to the Echo ahead of the eviction, Steven said the entire saga, which includes two court battles, has worsened his mental health significantly, causing him to take extended time off from his job as a meter reader.
“We’re being treated like criminals,” he said, expressing outrage at his situation. He has lived in the Higham Hill property for decades, and it is where his two sons, now aged in their twenties, grew up.
He says he has nowhere to go, and as of 6pm this evening, less than 14 hours before he is due to be evicted by bailiffs, the council has not yet arranged alternative housing for him and his wife. The council said it does not also owe a duty to provide housing for his sons because they are adults.
Following her placement into a care home in 2019, the council sent Steven’s mother a “notice to quit” the tenancy of her home in March 2020. The move prompted Steven to apply for tenancy succession.
In an August 2023 letter sent to Steven turning down his application of tenancy succession, the council explained that it could not proceed because of several criteria not being met.
Alongside the reason that there must be no “previous statutory succession or assignment of tenancy”, it was also stated that succession could not be granted because his mother was not living at the property.
This rejection was preceded by a letter from the council in April 2023 announcing it would start court proceedings against Steven for living in the flat as an “unauthorised occupant”.
In the second of two court hearings on the issue, a judge ruled in favour of the council and he was served a final order of eviction in May which stated the property would be repossessed by bailiffs on 1st August.
Ahsan Khan, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said: “We understand the family’s frustrations. The rules around succession of council properties in the UK are very clear. Unfortunately, the family is not eligible to be assigned the tenancy of this address.
“We have offered the family support through our housing options service to help them find a new property.”
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