Having a rented home can cause conflicts between landlords and tenants, especially when the Landlord wants to recover the property and the person who lives there refuses to leave. However, just because a tenant does not have the right to remain in a property does not mean that the owner can do anything to evict him or her. This is exactly what happened to a homeowner in London, who began demolishing the roof of a house while the man who lived there was sleeping and will now have to compensate him.
According to the information known during the trial, collected by Independentthe then squatter was installed in a building that had been declared uninhabitable. Before this occurred, he had been residing legally with the owner’s permission in exchange for his care of the building. However, after it was deemed uninhabitable, the owner had warned him that he would have to leave due to the danger of collapses.
Despite the warnings, he did not leave the house and on July 18, 2023, he woke up around nine in the morning to loud bangs and, when he went to the living room, he discovered that debris was falling from the ceiling. The case ended up in court and, although the court recognized that the man was occupying the house without authorization, it considered that the owner had acted in an unacceptable manner by beginning the demolition while he was still inside.
The landlord started removing the roof while the man was sleeping
The owner had decided to take justice into his own hands and recover the home on his own. From what was explained during the trial, the landlord had sent him several messages warning him that they were going to remove the roof and begin demolition work.
In fact, about two weeks before the work began, the owner had already informed him that he intended to remove the roof of the building. However, the man was still living there when workers came to the property and began removing the roof.
According to the victim, he was sleeping that morning when he heard loud bangs above his head. When he got up and entered the living room, he found that debris was falling and that holes had been opened in the ceiling of several rooms, including the bathroom and one of the bedrooms.
The man decided to report the owner and his real estate company for harassment and illegal eviction, demanding compensation of up to 60,000 pounds (about 69,000 euros), stating that what had happened had caused him stress, anxiety and mental health problems.
During the trial, the landlord denied having committed any illegality and argued that the man was not really his tenant. However, the judge considered that removing the roof of a home knowing that there was a person inside was an “unacceptable and oppressive” action.
Furthermore, he explained that the landlord had other alternatives to recover the property, such as going to court and requesting an eviction order, instead of directly starting the work.
He occupied the home without permission, but forces the landlord to compensate him
Although the court recognized that the man was occupying the property without authorization and could not legally be considered a tenant, this did not mean that the owner could use any measure to get him to leave the property. The magistrate explained that the landlord knew that the man was still inside when he sent the workers to remove the roof and that his actions were intended to cause fear and distress.
“The mere fact that he was, in practice, a squatter did not mean that he could take such extreme measures,” the judge noted.
The court also found that the owner had harassed the man by briefly cutting off his water supply, although it rejected other accusations related to the interruption of Wi-Fi and the closure of access to the building.
Finally, the Court sentenced the landlord to pay the occupant compensation of 2,000 pounds (about 2,300 euros) for harassment, although it rejected most of the amount he had claimed.
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On the other hand, the owner had also filed a lawsuit against the man for occupying the property without permission and for the alleged damages caused, but the judge rejected the claim for damages and only recognized a symbolic compensation of one pound (just over one euro).