A Nottingham man who faces eviction from his childhood home has said he will lose a lifetime of memories. Shaun Wooldridge, 61, was told to leave his home in Stockhill by Nottingham City Homes (NCH), weeks after his mum Jillian, who was renting the property, died on June 16.
The former Calverton colliery worker who now works in the asbestos industry, has until October 30 to leave the property, which he lives in with his wife, Sununta, and 12-year-old stepdaughter. Mr Wooldridge said following his mum's death he had filled a council tenancy form out incorrectly, which he says NCH refused to let him re-fill.
When approached by Nottinghamshire Live, a spokesperson for NCH said it would give him another opportunity to fill out the form. Mr Wooldridge, who has previously spoken of his fears of becoming homeless, said his stepdaughter is particularly afraid of losing her home.
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"She won't even leave the house, she's scared of losing it," he said. "If we are going shopping or something she doesn't want to come, she won't go outside, only for school. I've got a lifetime of memories here, and I can't afford to just move everything out."
According to Citizens Advice, a tenant is able to stay in the council home and take over the tenancy depending on factors including whether you lived with the tenant before they died (it will only count if it was your main home and not a temporary one), if you were living together as a couple, if you're related to the person who died, how long you lived with the person who died, the type of tenancy they had and how long they had it for and what the tenancy agreement says as it might give you more rights to take over the tenancy.
Mr Wooldridge said he was prepared to take legal action to prevent being removed from the home, adding: "I'm not going down without a fight, I've got to fight for what I believe in."
A spokesperson for Nottingham City Homes said: “We again extend our sincere condolences to Mr Wooldridge and his family over the loss of his mother. When a tenant unfortunately passes, we have to send a legal document to end their tenancy. As Mr Wooldridge and his family are not on this legal agreement, there is no right to succession in place.
“However, we’ve been supporting the family and working with them to look at their needs and establish if they’re eligible to stay in council housing. The information initially provided by Mr Wooldridge did not meet the criteria required, but we note he has now indicated that he made mistakes with what was supplied.
“We will therefore contact Mr Wooldridge again to give him another opportunity to provide accurate information to assess if he is eligible for a new council tenancy. With so many people currently on the housing waiting list in Nottingham, we have to make sure we are being fair to everyone.”
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