Court judgment hailed as landmark ruling by housing association

Tue 06 Jul 2010

Housing association MHT London has commended a court's decision to overturn a previous judgment that it could not evict a tenant known to have been violent towards his family.

Djilali Hadjazi was evicted when he moved back into his former family home after his violent and threatening behaviour led to his wife and children being moved to a secret location.

However, a County Court had ruled that this was not legitimate because he had not been occupying the property at the time his aggressive conduct took place.

The housing association took the case to the Court of Appeal and successfully argued that Ground 14A of the Housing Act 1988 could be applied in this instance.

This means that the body was able to lawfully evict the violent tenant, even though his wife and children had already left the family home by this time.

MHT London said the ruling means social landlords will now be better able to manage domestic violence even if the aggressive person is no longer occupying the property.

The association added that the action it took shows how it considers acts of violence in the home to be unacceptable.

According to the legislation, a court may order possession if the tenant or any other person residing in the property "has been guilty of conduct which is a nuisance or annoyance to adjoining occupiers" or has been convicted of using or allowing the house to be "used for immoral or illegal purposes".