Declan and I live in a Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) designated property. On 17 April our landlord, Peabody Trust housing association, confronted us with an abominable choice: sign the appalling fixed-term tenancy offered as a renewal or live under the threat to life of a 'no fault' Section 21 eviction notice during a weekly periodic tenancy commencing on 17 May. They strenuously maintain that "the terms are the same and a like for like as requested". And they have falsely accused us of not signing a like-for-like agreement in an apparent set-up for a Section 21 eviction.
There are in fact substantial and/or adverse variations to the terms in violation of our rights under the Human Rights Act 1998. For example, the stipulated time in arrears for possession has been reduced from 8 weeks to 14 days. This in itself renders unsignable the tenancy on offer, thereby destabilising our tenancy and inhibiting our ability to exercise our rights. Newham Council has already twice suspended our Housing Benefit because of erroneous notifications from the Department for Work and Pensions that we had vacated. Neither Declan nor I have had any contact with the Department during this tenancy due to the both of us being part-time employed.
In another example, our existing tenancy specifies one month's notice or four weeks' rent when we want to end the tenancy. The tenancy on offer states that if we do not give Peabody one month's notice before we want to move out, or they do not explicitly accept a surrender of our tenancy in writing after we have given them a month's notice, we will remain liable for rent and service charges until the end of the fixed term. This could force any RSI tenant into declaring bankruptcy in any number of scenarios. We could for instance be held liable for damage done to worn-out carpets by the previous tenant(s) and more besides.
Our legal position in respect to 'no fault' Section 21 notice will pose a direct threat to Declan's life. He is a 59-year-old asthmatic with a long history of serious respiratory illness, thus placing him in the high-risk group for COVID-19 and other viral respiratory infections.
Our existing tenancy specifies the weekly rent we must pay:
20 November: I had to upload this first image titled "The charges you must pay" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
The tenancy on offer refers to the monthly rent we must pay:
20 November: I had to upload this second image titled "The charges you must pay" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
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Our existing tenancy states that it is a "renewed" tenancy:
7 August: I had to upload this first image titled "The date your tenancy starts" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
The tenancy on offer does not state it is a renewed tenancy:
8 November: I had to upload this second image titled "The date your tenancy starts" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
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Our existing tenancy does not specify the aims of the project:
The tenancy on offer specifies "visiting support":
20 November: I had to upload this second image titled "Aims of the project" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
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Our existing tenancy is specific on time and amount of rent increase:
20 November: I had to upload this first image titled "Changes in rent" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
The tenancy on offer makes no mention of the rent cap for social housing and is not specific on time or amount of rent increase:
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Our existing tenancy specifies one month's notice or four weeks' rent when we want to end the tenancy:
The tenancy on offer states that if we do not give Peabody one month's notice before we want to move out, or they do not explicitly accept a surrender of our tenancy in writing after we have given them a month's notice, we will remain liable for rent and service charges until the end of the fixed term:
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Our existing tenancy stipulates 8 weeks in arrears for possession:
20 November: I had to upload this first image titled "Ground for possession" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
The tenancy on offer stipulates 14 days in arrears for possession:
17 May: I had to upload this second image titled "Re-entry by the landlord" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
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Our existing tenancy does not specify the services provided:
20 November: I had to upload this first image titled "Schedule 2 - Services provided" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
The tenancy on offer specifies "visiting support for a two-year period":
20 November: I had to upload this second image titled "Schedule 2 - Services provided" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
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Our existing tenancy does not specify any special terms but includes move-on options through St Mungo's:
20 November: I had to upload this first image titled "Schedule 4 - Special terms" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
The tenancy on offer specifies "No move-on options available through Peabody":
20 November: I had to upload this second image titled "Schedule 4 - Special terms" to an alternative host for images. It is another one of my images in MediaFire that does not appear on their site.
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