A disabled man has told Bristol Live how a ten-year battle to be allowed to stay in his supported living accommodation has culminated in bailiffs arriving to evict him. The man, who wanted to be known only as Adam, cannot work, is vulnerable and has been living in the accommodation in Clifton for 20 years.
But over the years his housing benefit has covered the rent but not the utility and maintenance charges for living in the accommodation now run by Sanctuary Housing Association. On Wednesday, after the latest in a long line of eviction attempts and court battles, Adam faced the prospect of bailiffs arriving on his doorstep to evict him for the first time.
The bailiffs came but didn’t get close to the front door of his flat, as the way was blocked by around a dozen members of the community union ACORN. The bailiffs made no attempt to get in, and went away leaving Adam in his home.
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Sanctuary told Bristol Live the eviction was ‘in the best interests of all parties’, and said they were committed to working with the local authority, Bristol City Council, to ‘ensure the long-term welfare’ of Adam. Adam told Bristol Live he began having issues with rent and maintenance fees around ten or 11 years ago.
He said that while the housing benefit just about covers his rent, the extra fees for utilities - mainly water charges - isn’t covered by the housing benefit, and he has no way of paying it. “What it boils down to is that I’m being evicted over non-payment of water rates, that’s essentially it,” said Adam.
“The amount of money I’ve owed has gone up and down over the years. At one point it was as high as £9,000 and now it’s about £5,500 I think. What happens is every time Sanctuary try to take me to court because they want their money paid in full in one go, then they add loads of legal costs which takes the amount of money I owe back up again.”
Adam said he had settled on an agreement to pay off the amount owed at £5 a week taken out of his benefits, but when Covid hit, things got challenging again. “What happened was the Government gave everyone a lump sum because of Covid but that meant my housing benefit went down by the same amount, so suddenly the arrears started going back up again,” he added.
“They’ve taken me to court a few times over this, it started back in about 2012. But it’s never got to the point where they are actually sending bailiffs round. I’m really worried. I don’t know what I would do. I’ve got a lot of stuff in my flat and I don’t know what would happen to it. I’m in supported housing because of my disability, and I guess I would hope I would get emergency accommodation, but there are something like 1,800 families in emergency accommodation.
“The problem is that if you have any kind of rent arrears, you are not allowed to apply for a new home on the council’s HomeChoice system. They tell me there are lot of people in hostels and on the streets,” he added. “It’s horrendous really, facing this.”
Sam Kidel, a spokesperson for Acorn, said Adam appealed for their help when he was told he was about to be evicted. “We’re here because we’re from the community union Acorn and one of our members has been served an eviction notice, which means that bailiffs are going to come over to chuck him out of his house, making him homeless,” he said. “We got together, a bunch of members from around the city, to stop the bailiffs from kicking him out of his home.
“He’s been served several Section 21s before, which he’s managed to successfully challenge in the courts, because there have been things wrong with the process, and it sounds like, from what Adam has told us, that this Section 21 should never have been served in the first place.
"It’s for rent arrears, it’s not like a huge sum of rent arrears. But he’s in supported housing, and he’s effectively been threatened with homelessness when he’s in supported housing for a reason.
“That’s why we got together. We felt he should not be made homeless by the bailiffs,” he added.
A spokesperson for Sanctuary Supported Living said: “This is a complex case which we have worked hard for many years to try to resolve without the need for a court ruling as we felt this was in the best interests of all parties concerned. While as a last resort court intervention was eventually required, we remain committed to working with the local authority to ensure the long-term welfare of the individual involved.”
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