A family who have lived in the same house for a decade could face a possession order for refusing to leave.
Kathryn and Michael Wakeham have lived in the same house for 10 years but have been given just months to vacate the property after being issued a no fault eviction notice. The couple, who run two charities including a food bank, have refused to leave their property due to there being no suitable homes available for them.
The issue illustrates a problem many have highlighted across the UK. The soaring price of rental properties and increased demand on the property market means they fear being forced to leave Rumney, Cardiff. The Wakehams were first issued the eviction notice in February this year as the landlord decided to sell the property they live in.
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The couple, who live in the house with two of their children and two dogs, were originally given six months' notice to leave because of covid legislation. But when that emergency legislation ended on March 24 the rules reverted back to the current notice of two months.
New legislation which will permanently enforce a six-month notice period under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act was due to be introduced on July 15, but has now been pushed back to December 1.
Kathryn told Wales Online: "We’ve been here for ten years. We got served an eviction notice at the end of February which was running for six months, then all of a sudden they re-issued the eviction notice for two months. The eviction date was June 3.
"Obviously we haven’t been able to leave as we have nowhere to do, the council advised us to stay put, we are now awaiting a possession order from the estate agents. They want us gone, they’ve made it very clear, they’ve asked more than once. But we cannot get out of the property because we have nowhere else to go."
Michael, who also works as a pest controller, had been studying to become a gas engineer before they were given notice to leave. Kathryn is unable to work due to a number of health conditions that impact her mobility. She said that finding a property in the area and within their budget has been "impossible".
The couple, who have five children, have been paying £630 rent but homes now are being leased for double that price. Kathryn said: "The prices are what have pretty much stopped us in our tracks. When we first found out we thought ‘you never know’ but the more we looked the worse it got. It was starting off at £900, and then £1,000 and now £1,200 for a property like we have now. We just can’t afford that.
"We’re paying £630 at the moment and that’s with very minimal rent increases over the last 10 years. At the time £630 seemed astronomical to us and now you’re saying £1,000, £1,200, it has just blown our minds. We didn’t think anybody had that type of money."
Due to running two charities in the Rumney area - both the local food bank and an organisation that provides school uniforms to children - the pair have no choice but to stay local. They said moving from the area would also have a detrimental impact on their children, aged 19 and seven.
Kathryn said the family are now in "limbo" while they wait to be served a possession order on the property. They were unable to meet the date on the eviction notice set for June 3 due to having nowhere to go. She said: "As soon as the [Covid] legislation changed, they issued us with the two-month one.
"It was done literally the day after. As soon as the government announced it was no longer the six months the letter came in the post.
"I was gobsmacked, we didn’t know what to do. We both panicked, phoning everyone we could possibly think of trying to get some form of an answer. Thankfully the council put our minds at rest. We are sitting here in limbo. We are sat here in a shell of a house trying to tell our children 'it’ll be okay, we will be fine'.
"We don’t really know that will be the case, that we won’t end up in emergency accommodation, or lose the dogs. That’s one of the things that is driving me insane, I don’t want to lose the dogs."
James Douglas Sales and Lettings, who manage the Wakehams' property, say theirs is, unfortunately, “not an isolated case”. Sarah Evans, general manager at the estate agent, said: "Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. The increase in landlord taxation as well as regulations, such as the introduction of Rent Smart Wales and the Renting Homes Act has meant that renting is simply not viable any longer for some landlords.
"This has resulted in more rental properties being sold and increased rents as landlords try to recover their rising costs. Partly as a result of this reducing stock, we are seeing the highest tenant demand on record due to the lack of supply. Unless the Welsh Government looks to mitigate this in some way this is clearly going to be a continuing trend."
The Welsh Government was approached for comment by Wales Online.
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