Wolverhampton housing firm that 'bullied tenant out of their home' handed £25k court bill

Wolverhampton Crown Court
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


A housing company which 'bullied a tenant out of their home' has been handed a huge £25,000 court bill. Phoenix Supported Housing CIC illegally evicted one of its vulnerable tenants.

Along with 'thoroughly wicked' former director Kimberley Bethell and director Davinder Singh Chall, the firm said it would help the tenant with their financial, physical and mental health.

But they failed to provide the promised support and issued 'misleading information'. It meant that the tenant fell into debt before they were made to leave their home.

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Issues came to light when the tenant asked Wolverhampton Council for help. Officers from private sector housing and trading standards teams launched an investigation and prosecuted the firm.

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Councillor Steve Evans, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for city housing, said: "The landlords and the company acted in a shameful way in this case. And unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident in the supported housing sector.

"We are seeing concerning trends where landlords are misleading tenants about the security of their tenancy, denying tenants their rights in law and illegally evicting them by failing to follow the correct procedures. We will not tolerate landlords misleading tenants in this way and will use our powers to investigate and take action, which can include engaging locksmiths to reinstate illegally evicted tenants, using court injunctions to prevent future attempts at illegal evictions and carrying out investigations with a view to prosecution.”

Issues first began in August 2021 when the tenant moved into the first of two city flats operated by Phoenix Supported Housing CIC. Tenants should have received support as part of their tenancy but no help was made available until March 2022.

Further issues included:

  • Not issuing tenancy documentation before or at the time the resident moved in

  • Falsely trying to charge the resident for support and when none was provided to them

  • Not telling the resident that they would have to pay council tax when moving from one flat to another

  • Entering the resident into contracts for the supply of utilities without their knowledge and then transferring an existing contract into their name without asking or telling her

  • Not telling the resident of their legal rights as a tenant and then breaching those same rights during their time in the flat

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The failures meant that the tenant to fall into debt and they were then given 14 days to leave the flat. They were threatened that any possessions left behind would be 'disposed of', which does not comply with the requirements of a legal eviction.

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services, added: "A vulnerable resident was bullied out of their home by the very organisation that was supposed to be supporting them. Bethell and Chall gave no regard to the individual’s health and wellbeing and whether they had anywhere else to go.

"It is absolutely right that the council brought this prosecution to hold Phoenix Supported Housing to account." Bethell and Chall admitted one charge under The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 and one under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Phoenix Supported Housing CIC also admitted the same charges, Wolverhampton Council said. Bethell and Chall were each handed a nine-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, when they appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday, January 14.

Bethell was ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work, while Chall was made subject to a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement. Both defendants were told to pay the tenant £1,500 each within 12 months.

The firm - based in All Saints Road, Wolverhampton - was fined £10,000 and must pay £15,000 towards the council’s legal costs. Sentencing, Recorder Joanne Barker said Bethell and Chall 'should be ashamed of themselves' and that their behaviour was 'thoroughly wicked'.