Hanwell Man Says He is Homeless After Deal with Council
Unable to return to house for four years as legal dispute rumbles on
Ahmed Malik. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalga/MyLondon
July 9, 2024
Ahmed Malik owns a home in a quiet Hanwell suburb. The two-bedroom house is where he raised his children in a community he has known for over a decade, yet the homeowner says he has been sleeping in a homeless shelter for months.
Mr Malik says he has been unable to access his home for almost four years after entering into an agreement with Ealing Council. During that time the state of the property has disintegrated, mould has taken over much of the flat’s walls, the once well-kempt gardens are overrun with nettles, thorns and weeds, door locks are damaged, plastering chipped, the bare rooms resemble a derelict building rather than a family home.
The owner says he is heartbroken by the state of his home has been left in and blames the council for not better helping protect it. During the Covid pandemic, Mr Malik says he entered into an agreement with the council and property letting agency Longstar Estates to rent the flat for a year to a council tenant.
The tenancy would start at the end of April 2021 and would finish at the same time a year later. However, over two years since the deal expired, Mr Malik has not had his property returned to him.
He explained, “This is my main residence and they have made me homeless. I gave them a lease during Covid times but when I wanted it back, they wouldn’t give it to me.” Mr Malik had agreed to be part of a scheme towards the tail end of the pandemic, which would allow the council to place vulnerable people in temporary private leases.
The landlord explained that he and his family had left the property to stay with relatives outside of London during the pandemic and he had decided to help someone vulnerable through the scheme rather than try and find a private renter. “It seemed like a good deal, they take it for a year, house someone homeless and then return it in the same condition.”
However, he was in for a shock after the lease expired and he expected it to be returned only to still be waiting. “I handed over the notice to quit and now I have to go to the courts,” he added.
Mr Malik says that because of the delays he has been left without anywhere to go for over 2 years. “I was sofa surfing for a while and for months I have been in a homeless shelter in Twickenham,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The scheme Mr Malik agreed to is Ealing Council’s private sector leasing which is explained on its website. Details on the web page included, “At the end of the tenancy, if you do not wish to extend the lease, you will get back the property with vacant possession.”
It describes the process as “trouble free,” and offers landlords “ongoing tenancy management – free of charge”. The page also clarifies that any repairs to the property are the responsibility of the landlord.
Mr Malik says that the damage the property has sustained in the more than three-year period it has had a council tenant will cost him tens of thousands.
On entering the property for the first time in several years, Malik told LDRS he was ‘heartbroken’ by the state of his home. He blames the council for not taking steps to ensure that its tenant respected his home.
A wall of mould on the Hanwell property. Picture: Facundo Arrizabalga/MyLondon
However, due to the agreement, the council and tenant have also said that he bears a share of the responsibility for the flat’s condition, especially for its ever-worsening mould problem. Speaking to LDRS the tenant said she also was looking to leave the flat.
“I have wanted to [leave] for so long. The property is riddled with damp, I haven’t had a toilet for a year because it’s been broken, there are snails everywhere, it’s really really bad.”
“Between the both of us, he wants his property back and I want to get out I’ve been living in a hotel for three months [because] the ceiling collapsed.”
The tenant said that everything she had brought with her to the flat had to be thrown out after it was destroyed by damp.
“I have complained about damp for two-two and a half years. I’m not going to take pride in a property where I have had to through all my furniture in a bin.”
“We are living out of bags because everything I initially had got destroyed.” The tenant says that three months after moving in the flat was riddled with mould and damp, something she said made it ‘uninhabitable’.
Despite seemingly all parties wanting the same thing, Mr Malik has had to go through the courts, which Ealing Council explains has been held up by repairs that he is required to carry out.
The property before it was let out through the council. Picture: Ahmed Malik
An Ealing Council spokesperson said, “We regret the long delay to Mr Malik’s property being returned to him, which he let through our private sector leasing scheme. The property has been managed by a managing agent and let through them to a council tenant.
“In any cases like this, a legal process must take place to allow for possession to be handed back to the owner, to safeguard the tenant’s rights. Court delays due to the post-pandemic backlog has led to this process taking up to three years.
“After a court hearing was finally scheduled, it became clear that there was recent damage to the building which required repairs, so the current tenant has been moved out to allow the repairs to be completed by the managing agents and landlord, which further delayed the process. Legally, the works need to be completed before court possession action can take place.”
The spokesperson added a hearing was due to be held on Friday (5 July) and that it is hoped the delays will be ‘resolved as soon as possible”. Longstar Estates manages the property on behalf of Ealing Council and it is the council’s responsibility to evict the tenant.
Rory Bennett - Local Democracy Reporter