Eviction Disproportionate When Current Behaviour Acceptable

When a council tenant is a significant nuisance to their neighbours, it is common for the council to seek possession of the tenant’s property. Where the tenant’s behaviour is sufficiently objectionable, a possession order will normally be granted.

However, there are exceptions to the rule, as a recent case shows.

It involved a tenant of a council property in Southend, who was abusive and aggressive towards his neighbours. He had an ‘introductory tenancy’, which is a form of tenancy offered to new tenants and which is intended to make termination of the tenancy and recovery of the premises straightforward if the tenant’s behaviour is unsatisfactory.

In the case in point, the tenant’s behaviour towards his neighbours and council staff was objectionable to a degree that there was no doubt that he was in breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement.

The council served a possession order on him, which he did not defend.

However, a possession order was not granted. In reaching its decision, the court took into account the fact that the man suffers from Asperger’s syndrome and also from depression, although these issues were not considered sufficient to explain his conduct. It was also agreed that the council’s approach to obtaining the possession order was not at fault.

The problem was that the court had to consider whether the circumstances existing at the time of the hearing were sufficient reason to grant the order. The issue was that the unacceptable behaviour had not occurred recently and the tenant had managed to comply with the lease terms for more than a year.

The court then considered whether, in view of the applicable human rights legislation, evicting the man from the flat would be a ‘proportionate’ response in the circumstances. The judge considered that at the time the application came before her, it would not.