We represented our client in a successful unlawful eviction claim, which resulted in over £135,000 of damages being awarded.

Background

Our client alongside his wife and mother-in-law had entered a tenancy with a private landlord, shortly after fleeing the war in Ukraine and moving to the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. They lived in the property with their two baby children.

After serving a section 21 eviction notice the landlord started a campaign of harassment. This involved a number of incidents over more than 2 months. The main incidents included the following:

• The landlord entered the property with his own keys and refused to leave for over 9 hours. He locked himself in a room and the police had to attend the premises before the landlord would leave. The two babies were home for about half of this stand-off.

• The landlord entered the property with a group of men when only the mother-in-law was home, who does not speak English. They held her arms, and one man had to be stopped from punching her. They also stole some of her belongings, include her residence card.

• The landlord committed a number of incidents of racial harassment. One of these incidents involved posting letters to the neighbours which made negative comments about them as Ukrainian refugees

The family had to leave the property due to this campaign.

Landlord’s defence rejected

The landlord’s original defence was that the person involved in all the incidents was an agent, and he was not involved at all. However, through the proceedings this was exposed as a lie, and the landlord accepted he was in fact the person presenting as the “agent”.  He also said that the Claimants only rented rooms and there were other residents who lived there which was his reason for entering “common” areas of the house; however, the court found this not to be credible. The landlord was also debarred from the proceedings.

Significant damages awarded

The court awarded more than £135,000 in damages, which included:

• Common law damages for unlawful eviction,

• Racial harassment in breach of the Equality Act,

• Failure to provide deposit information and,

• An enhancement.

Our client was represented by Solicitor, Luke Sheldon, who instructed Nick Bano of Garden Court Chambers as counsel.