Our family has been forced to split up after our tenant refused to leave our house – we’re homeless & have nowhere to go
A FAMILY have been forced to split up after their tenant refused to leave their house and left them homeless.
Carna and Ganes Brooks returned to their property in Dartford, Kent from Dubai in July, only to find the house still occupied.
The couple, who have two young children, had contacted the tenant back in February to ask them to leave.
But after the tenant refused, the family ended up being locked out for 16 weeks and are still living out of suitcases.
They had returned to their front door with their suitcases and
exhausted children to find their tenants were still inside.
Carna and Gane have relied on the kindness of friends across England for a place to stay and are now having to live separately to keep a roof over their heads.
The family were intending to come home in May and informed their tenant, but they were delayed because Carna was diagnosed with cancer and had to have treatment in Dubai.
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They do not own a home in Dubai, and had gone there to work for three years.
Carna and Gane are still paying the mortgage, so they can not afford rent and they say as the tenant is no longer paying rent, they
are £13,000 out of pocket.
Carna told KentLive they were granted a Possession Order on October 18 and thought they were “nearing the end of this disastrous road”.
The mum said: “We continued to call shelters and again tried to apply for council support or emergency housing, but no luck.
“Our tenants were aware for five months about our return, then consciously left us homeless after many attempts from us to help them.
“We are still homeless, yet, at the Possession Order Hearing, the
judge gave them another two weeks’ notice to move out.
“Now the bailiffs will take at least six weeks to serve the order on them, after which they will receive another two weeks’ notice before
eviction which they have the power to delay. Our matter is not being
dealt with as urgent.”
‘HOPELESS, HELPLESS & HOMELESS’
Carna added that being homeless for so long has left them feeling like they are being “victimised”.
She continued: “We feel that everything in this system is to delay tenants from being homeless while we as landlords of only one property are being victimised and left homeless for longer than needed.
“Tenants need to be declared homeless to get accommodation support. We were standing hopeless, helpless and homeless with our children on the street, yet we are not eligible for support.”
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The parents feel powerless as private landlords to make their tenants leave despite initially hoping to get their home back in November.
Carna said when their tenant moved in they had left them with a “fully functioning home”.
She said: “Even with new linen, towels, new fluffy slippers next to
the beds, new cosy pyjamas, food cupboards stocked up and a grocery delivery for their first week.
“We felt it was the right thing to do to let them rent our home significantly below market value to help them financially and to take care of our belongings.”
The couple said a Section 8 notice notifying the family they wanted
their home back by June 28 – which has been seen by KentLive – was
ignored and the tenants had fallen behind with their rent.
And they claim they told the tenant they would even waive rent to help them get a deposit together.
‘LAST STRETCH’
Carna and Ganes now hope the law can be changed to a “fairer system”, to protect people like them who find themselves in such a desperate situation.
Carna, whose husband Ganes is a construction project manager, said: “We are hardworking people in average paid jobs.
“We saved for 11 years to be able to put a deposit on our home, a home which we cannot enter or enjoy together.
“We have maxed out all our credit cards through these 4 months. This is debt which we will never be able to recover from. And in so doing, this legal system is creating yet another family who might need benefits in future.”
However, Carna did say that they can see the “light at the end of the tunnel” and the family are remaining strong.
Devout Christian Carna said: “We are grateful as the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, however; this last stretch is now seriously affecting our whole family’s mental health and well-being.
“It takes every fibre of our being, to remain strong, resilient, patient, and try find the positive in every day.”
She said as a Christian family they believed God had “kept our boat
afloat throughout this storm”.
Carna added: “We are extremely overwhelmed and feeling very blessed by the support of friends and strangers all over the world.
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“We are pleading for the landlord and tenant law to be reviewed for a fairer system, to be in favour of both parties.”
The tenant has been contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publishing.