Peabody Trust (threat to life): Declan's complaint to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. At least we have it for a free legal aid solicitor in the event of a 'no fault' eviction notice within the next two months

DAY 211 IN A WEEKLY PERIODIC TENANCY
SUBJECT TO A 'NO FAULT' SECTION 21 NOTICE
MAYOR OF LONDON RSI PROPERTY

14/04/20

With the background as provided above, the Heaveys now are facing an eviction notice from their landlord, Peabody Trust housing association. The tenancy is a flat, which falls under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. Pardoning my intrusion into English law, but in fairness there does not appear to be any reason for the eviction, relying apparently entirely on the discretion of the landlord.

Joseph R. Carvalko, Esq., American lawyer (full letter here)

Our Church and State website has no less than 59 Nobel Laureates on it despite the never-ending assault on our email; see paragraph 2 under "Church and State" on this blog's sidebar (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

On Friday Declan emailed our local MP and three councillors for the referral straight to the Housing Ombudsman of his complaint against Peabody Trust about appalling new terms of tenancy. Without this referral, he has to wait until the period of eight weeks has passed before the Ombudsman will consider the case. Such is the short-term threat to our tenancy that this afternoon he wrote to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for help. The letter will at least serve as a briefing document for a free legal aid solicitor in the event of a 'no fault' Section 21 eviction notice before we qualify for the Ombudsman's consideration in two month's time. He also submitted the letter online (incident: 201213-000013). According to the autoreply, we should expect a response from one of their advisors within 24 hours. That should be interesting!

13 December 2020

Equality and Human Rights Commission
Correspondence Unit
Fleetbank House
2-6 Salisbury Square
London
EC4Y 8JX

Dear Equality and Human Rights Commission,

Complaint against Peabody Trust

Please can you advise if you can take pre-enforcement action to help protect my rights without resorting to a court case.

Contact Reason

Equality Act - Discrimination.

Protected Characteristic

Philosophical belief.

What has happened

On 11 December 2020, I received the enclosed final decision letter ("the letter") from my landlord, Peabody Trust housing association. In the letter, Peabody falsely allege that I have appointed a solicitor in this case.

They also misleadingly state that I am housed by them under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) scheme. In fact, my wife and I are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by St Mungo's on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the properties are provided by housing associations – such as Peabody. This fact was clarified by the GLA when their Housing First pilot, which we were a part of, ended. They wrote: "In other words, at the end of the Housing First pilot, the tenants would revert to being Clearing House tenants and as such would fall to be referred to the TST [Tenancy Sustainment Team] like all other Clearing House tenants."

Peabody's proposed new terms of tenancy, taken together with the letter, would inter alia unequivocally disenfranchise me of my right to support from St Mungo's TST. It would leave me instead with "visiting support" from Peabody that I do not want or need. They write: "We do absolutely empathise with you as a former rough sleeper and we hope you will engage with us going forward to further help you with support."

Peabody's letter has been issued to me six months into a supported housing weekly periodic tenancy. It effectively threatens me with 'no fault' short term eviction. Any assurances to the contrary have no value in law, and especially since I have no intention of forgoing support from St Mungo's TST that I am currently being prevented from accessing due to the ongoing destabilisation of my tenancy. In fact, the letter poses a direct threat to my life. I am a 60-year-old asthmatic with a long history of serious respiratory illness, thus placing me in the high-risk group for COVID-19 and other viral respiratory infections. Eviction from an RSI property would leave me wholly vulnerable and with no prospect of being housed.

I have emailed my local MP and three councillors for the referral of my complaint straight to the Housing Ombudsman. Without this referral, I have to wait until the period of eight weeks has passed before the Ombudsman will consider the case. Such is the short-term threat to my tenancy that I am also making this complaint to you for discrimination against me as a Clearing House tenant. It is absurd of Peabody to suggest that I am being treated as other Clearing House tenants in RSI properties.

The Equality Act 2010 states that it is unlawful to discriminate against a person by treating them less favourably because of their protected characteristic; in this case, my philosophical belief. The expression of my secular values and beliefs at my website – www.churchandstate.org.uk – should have no bearing on how I am treated by a housing association. I believe that as the managing director of Network for Church Monitoring, the organisation that runs the site, there is sufficient causal connection between my protected characteristic and the way I am being treated by Peabody.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you as soon as conveniently possible.

Yours faithfully,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

Encl.

11 December: Our landlord Peabody Trust has effectively just threatened us with 'no fault' short term eviction from a flat that falls under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. Declan has asked our local MP and three councillors for a referral of his case straight to the Housing Ombudsman

We have no pro se (in person) access to the courts

The Central London County Court is based at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Heavey v St Mungo's (2020)

The following is the full content of paragraph 4 under "Church and State" on this blog's sidebar.

4. This eviction matter previously came before District Judge Fine at the Central London County Court on 30 June, when both counsel for St. Mungo's (the charity in effective control of our tenancy) and Declan presented their positions. Declan lost the case and was ordered to pay £1,850 in costs. A publishing colleague in America cleared these costs within 24 hours of my blog post about this hearing for strike out on a related issue that was the essence of Declan's claim, i.e., that St Mungo's would take a phone call to confirm that we are clients of the Mayor of London's RSI programme. Within a week of the hearing, St. Mungo's had agreed to take this phone call for us both, the Court having ruled that they were not obliged to do so despite our circumstances. This time we escaped bankruptcy (counsel for St. Mungo's asked for £3,407.50 in costs), but consider that to seek pro se access to justice in the courts has become far too dangerous for us.

30 June: District Judge Ruth Fine orders Declan to pay £1,850 in costs. St Mungo's are under no obligation to even vouch over the phone that we are clients of the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's TST programme (WITH UPDATE 08/12/20)

Metropolitan Police Crime Reference No. 5330050/20. On 16 October, our flat door on the 2nd floor was vandalised by two thugs with a crowbar. Declan and I were in the flat at the time and fortunately our double locked door held firm. It's my opinion that they just wanted to break the door lock but didn't have enough time. The communal door lock downstairs wasn't broken, and on 11 November that lock was changed. Our flat door was repaired by a security contractor on 1 December with silicone sealant and glue gun. The police closed the case within two days of the crime due to a lack of evidence.

For months we have been dealing with an almost total blockade of our emails to space advocates anywhere in the world. The latest email we gave up on to Washington DC is our reply email to a close colleague on 3 December. Declan's recent use of his mobile phone to try to get my permission emails through to space advocates has also proven unsuccessful. On both occasions the leading expert could only be reached through voice mail because, we assume, of the pandemic that is currently raging in America. Most recently we have had the honour of listing a Hall of Famer astronaut among our Honorary Associates. It was one of the few emails that we have gotten through to space advocates in the past three months.

6 December: It would not be an exaggeration to say that more than a thousand of our emails have been blocked this year taking into account Washington DC. My emails to space advocates are among those targeted

From My Picks:

24 November: For the fourth time Pixsy chase payment without a claim letter for the past non-commercial use of one image on the Church and State website. We're still waiting for Peabody Trust's final decision letter for the Housing Ombudsman to investigate appalling new terms of tenancy



Our list of 287 Honorary Associates includes 17 Nobel Prize laureates, 11 US National Medal of Science laureates and 12 knighted professors notwithstanding the excessive targeting of these three categories of emails in particular.

http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

"Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out." Edd Doerr (1930-2020), (then) President, Americans for Religious Liberty