No-one deserves to be removed from their home and abandoned to the streets.
Having grown up in Hastings, Karl (not his real name) worked as a fisherman for many years, surrounded by a strong local community, and also spent some happy years living abroad. But everything started to go downhill after health problems in his early 50s left him permanently disabled and in pain. Increasingly isolated, and struggling to cope with daily living, he was left vulnerable to some harrowing experiences which left him deep in debt and with spiralling mental health problems.
Recognising you’re in trouble and asking for help is sometimes the hardest hurdle to jump, but thankfully Karl now has support in place from various organisations, and a new network of friends who genuinely have his best interests at heart.
What happened to Karl could happen to anyone, and with major surgery scheduled in the next month he still has numerous challenges to face. But for the first time in years Karl feels ready to get his life back on track.
The problem is that the one stable element in his life over the past five years is now at risk – his landlord is due to evict him on February 10th because of rent arrears. Karl is terrified of ending up on the streets or in temporary accommodation – will he be able to stay in Hastings? Will he be put at risk in unsuitable shared accommodation? Will he be able to keep his dog with him?
Karl has appealed to his landlord to show compassion and help him make a fresh start by withdrawing the eviction order and allowing him to pay back his arrears in a manageable payment plan.
Sometimes things go wrong for people and, as part of the local community, landlords and estate agents need to show they can support and look out for people who hit hard times too, rather than just pushing them over to the council to deal with.
Maybe this could be a learning opportunity for this estate agent, and a chance to create best practice procedures for other agents to follow, where agents are trained to recognise safeguarding risks to vulnerable adults, and know how to alert agencies who can offer their tenants the right support before they get to crisis point.
Surely a landlord who has collected years of rent from a tenant should owe some duty of care and compassion, rather than simply move onto legal action and wash their hands of what happens after they evict someone?
Come along to the Hastings Housing Alliance drop-in at the Mini Common Room on Saturday 1st February from 11am-12noon, where local housing campaigners meet to discuss all issues related to housing in the town, including raising standards for private letting agents. People will also be able to discuss with Karl how they can get involved in supporting him and organise to resist his eviction if that becomes necessary.
