Allegations and invalid eviction served by housing association

Smodlet

Cakeguts wrote: »

Housing association? I can think of some council ones like that but they are mostly two beds not single occupancy units. It is the single occupancy as well that I find confusing. All the housing association/council flats that I can think of that are only 1 bed are reasonably modern and are in blocks.

There are some that are sheltered housing for the over 60s that are like studio flats where the ground floor ones have access to the communal gardens and a small raised border for people to put plants into as well as a small patio but they don't have gardens as such where you could dry washing or spend a lot of time putting plants in because the areas are part of the communal gardens.

Things may well vary according to area, Cakeguts. I once lived in a HA tiny shoebox which had a "garden" (I've seen bigger rugs) yet boasted a washing line. You could have fitted one single sheet on it or a week's worth of smalls if you were careful.

First place I lived with OH (why do I still miss it?) was a one bed council flat with quite a decent strip of garden (not communal) By the time he had finished with it (it was a wilderness) it boasted a useful washing line and wall to wall veg/fruit. Not a blade of grass to be seen, bless him. No-one could say it was not an improvement.

[Deleted User]

I had a one bed ground floor flat with garden too. It was small but definitely ground floor, flat, social housing and had a garden. I was 20 at the time, lived there over 15 years and it wasn't for the physically disabled.

LindaT66

My TV isn!!!8217;t loud, I live on the ground floor flat - with a garden that is my own connected to my flat. No restrictions on washing, in fact HA and officer said it was fine verbally then again verbally said it wasn!!!8217;t. It is my own garden, to my own flat. I!!!8217;m not in a block, if!!!8217;s a flat with own front door. My own garden with plants in - not communal.

The invalid eviction was not an S8, it provided no section at all. It was invalid, but was definitely an eviction notice in the eyes of the HA, until the council got in touch and they basically decided to take a different route with it. There has never been any communication or letters outlining complaints or offering me any opportunity to address or rectify so called allegations. Like I said, the HA turns up unannounced at my door which I!!!8217;ve been logging. I!!!8217;m in the process of one big complaint against them for their sheer incompetence when it comes to their serving an invalid eviction and their seeming harrassment of me as a tenant.

Browntoa

HA wouldn't be chasing noise complaints etc without complaints from other residents. They would rely on witness statements from neighborhood if seeking to evict for noise or antisocial behaviour.

So there must be complaints against you

LindaT66

Are you in a flat? Yes
Is your tv loud ? No

Are there restrictions against drying your washing in the garden in your tenancy agreement? No

Do your visitors make a noise when they arrive or when going away? We had neighbours whose visitors would Have conversations in loud voices and shout goodbye as they walked down the street. No, my sons say bye at my door and walk away on their own without shouting down back to me.


Do you have disagreements with your neighbours? No I!!!8217;ve never had a disagreement, just say hello and smile.

Do you swear? Some people swear routinely in conversation which may offend others. No not a constant swearer and very rarely do.

moneyistooshorttomention

If it's your own private bit of garden (ie not communal garden) - then re the washing, I'm wondering whether there was any sort of washing line set-up or no there at the time you moved in?

1. Is there a general rule laid down in the HA rules that no-one (you or anyone else) can hang out washing?

2. If there is - what exactly does it say? and do you notice other tenants hanging out washing?

I do know that some public sector housing forbids hanging out washing even on one's own private space - as I've lived in HA housing way back when and we had that rule. It was applied to all of us. What actually happened, in the event, was the tenants association officers living there soon told me that those of us in upper flats could screw hooks into our balcony walls and string clotheslines across between them underneath the height of the balcony walls. Many people in upper flats did that (including me - after being told that) - as the reason why this rule was there was so that no washing was ever on show to anyone.

So - those of us in upper flats could and did do those "low slung" washing lines and no-one ever spotted them. Those in ground floor flats were unfortunate - as they had to stick to the rule, as their washing would have been on show and lots of us would have seen it.

2. I'm surprised that tv noise has to stop at 8pm. That is very early. Again - we had a "no noise after such and such time" rule and I think ours was 11pm (which was a perfectly reasonable rule - as sound could travel between the households). But 8pm is very early. What EXACTLY does that rule say?

****************

I'm guessing you may possibly be falling foul personally of this because of assumptions about lifestyle (which may or may not be true)?? Come to think of it - and looking back I can see that my HA officers made a set of assumptions about my lifestyle and I just didnt have any problems with them ever - probably because their set of assumptions about me was absolutely spot on I have to admit - ie as to what my lifestyle would likely be (no pets/little tv/automatically abide by the rules IF they made logical sense and not if they didnt).

LindaT66

I didn!!!8217;t say there wasn!!!8217;t complaints, I am disputing them and what they say.

There isn!!!8217;t a rule about it being off at 8pm - the officer verbally told me this id what has to happen. The only time the !!!8216;issue!!!8217; was raised with washing and my TV noise was when the officer was doing visits to other properties and decided to raise it with me verbally.

HampshireH

If it's private rented then they can serve a s.21 if they really wanted to evict you.

If you don't have a notice served then the whole topic isn't about unlawful evicition. It's about you disputing allegations of ASB.

There is also no reason why someone shouldn't have a conversation to discuss issues if they are passing. That's not harassment.

If you want an outline send an email, put your request in writing (politely) and ask for a written response. Least then you can use this to compile your dispute.

Cakeguts

LindaT66 wrote: »

I didn!!!8217;t say there wasn!!!8217;t complaints, I am disputing them and what they say.

There isn!!!8217;t a rule about it being off at 8pm - the officer verbally told me this id what has to happen. The only time the !!!8216;issue!!!8217; was raised with washing and my TV noise was when the officer was doing visits to other properties and decided to raise it with me verbally.

It sounds to me as if the officer is trying to help you. If they say that you need to turn the tv off a 8pm and you follow this rule and do that if they then continue to get complaints about the noise from your tv they know that the other person is making it all up.

Someone is making complaints about you. You say they aren't true so if you follow the intructions given to you about the washing and tv and the complaints continue then they know that you are not the cause of the problem.

LindaT66

The issue is about an invalid eviction notice - because this is what they did. They served an invalid eviction notice. I am aware that they would need to serve a s.21 which they failed to do, hence why they have since changed their minds on this.

With respect, I am aware that the way in which my HA deals with complaints is to write to tenants first which has never been done. I!!!8217;m happy for officers to discuss any issues, but an agreed appointment with me - not knocking on my door EVERYTIME I have been at home and they have been conducting visits at other properties in the area. They haven!!!8217;t had issues to discuss each time, by my response has always been am I due a visit, to which they respond with no, so I politely ask them to send me a notification for a time and date for an official visit just as per my tenancy agreement.