Ms Baskerville’s story
CHAC prevents eviction of single mother from Housing Association
Ms Baskerville, a single parent with one dependent child, was an assured tenant of a Housing Association. The Housing Association had previously obtained a possession order in September 2017 because Ms Baskerville did not attend court, her housing benefit had stopped in March and her rent arrears were over £3,000. Her rent arrears continued to increase by £116 every week less the £75 rent she was paying every 4 weeks.
“An ‘assured tenant’ has more security than an ‘assured shorthold tenant’ as they can only be evicted with a ground (reason) under the Housing Act 1988.”
Ms Baskerville came to CHAC in October 2017 when her rent arrears were over £3,500 and the Housing Association were about to apply to Canterbury County Court for the court bailiffs to evict her and her young son. CHAC negotiated with the Housing Association and they agreed not to have the bailiffs evict her if Ms Baskerville’s housing benefit could be fixed and arrears discharged. We assisted in arranging Discretionary Housing Payment of £1,000 for Ms Baskerville, and she started paying off her rent arrears at the rate of £7.65 every week. CHAC also helped her to get her housing benefit back into payment at £116 a week, and to get ‘backdated’ housing benefit of over £1,000 and a Discretionary Housing Payment of £1,000. This helped reduce her rent arrears to just over £1,300, and the Housing Association did not apply to court and so Ms Baskerville and her young son were not evicted and she also saved the bailiffs’ costs of over £100.