Son 'jumped for joy' after eviction revoked

A North Yorkshire mum has said her son "jumped for joy" when the family, who faced the threat of eviction, were told they could stay in their home.

Claire Griffin's family were among 13 households on the Essex Close estate in Catterick Garrison who were given a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice in 2023.

Ms Griffin and her two sons were the last to remain on the estate, after the landlord said it was selling their homes, but on Christmas Eve she received the news that they could stay.

Landlord Annington declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the BBC.

Annington owns more than 40,000 units in the UK and many were used by the Army for service family accommodation before the Ministry of Defence (MoD) sold them in 1996.

In December, the MoD announced it was buying back its old service accommodation from Annington in a deal worth £6bn.

But Ms Griffin's home and the others on her street were due to be sold on the private market, so would not return to government ownership.

Ms Griffin said Annington had told her at Christmas it was able to "review their portfolio" following the £6bn deal, so the family could remain in their home.

Ms Griffin, 32, told the BBC the last 18 months had felt "like 18 years" as she was left trying to find a home for her family in the local area.

She said one of her sons "jumped for joy" when she told him they could stay in the only home he had ever known.

She had put off returning to education because of the threat of eviction but said she now planned to do online courses and hoped to go to university this September.

She said: "It's been constant stress and worry. I've had to put a lot of things on hold.

"My emotions, my mental health has been all over the place.

"I was stuck in place and worried about something that I couldn't control.

"I'm just going to do some volunteering at a school so I'm prime and ready for September, to do my postgrad degree. So fingers crossed."

But other families who had already been made to leave their homes on Essex Close described the roll-back from Annington on one household as an "absolute joke".

Kirsty Waite, her husband and four children, had lived in their home on the street for 13 years.

She and her family recently moved into their new home in Richmond, but had spent seven months in one room in a nearby homeless centre.

She told the BBC: "To find out that there's people not having their Section 21s actioned is a huge kick in the teeth. Why were we put in the situation we were in? My house is still empty. We had to rehome our dog."

"I'm beyond happy for [Claire]. The process is beyond awful and it means if someone else doesn't have to go through it then it's absolutely amazing."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "It is completely unacceptable to see these families evicted from their homes on a whim.

"We are determined to prevent homelessness before it occurs and that's why we are giving people greater security in their homes without fear of eviction through our landmark Renters' Rights Bill, which is now one step closer to becoming a reality. "

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