Soon to be evicted as a retaliation: what to do?

[san_d]

Given my circumstances I am not even sure if this can be considered an eviction but I'll try anyway.

 

I share a room with three other gents in a guest house (please don't laugh). I have paid weekly for over a year. All was fine until a couple of months ago when some of the staff took the liberty of spreading rumours about me and being disrespectful and I had a couple of minor issues, which weren't my fault (see my prev posts).

 

To cut the story short last month the landlord put a guy in our room that looked a bit worse for wear. We got very suspicious and we discovered that he suffered from a major communicable disease in the past. I and another roommate confronted the chap and he admitted that he had the illness but the was ok now and would be ready to get tested to prove that to us. We waited some reasonable time but he came up with evident lies. The other roommate freaked out and decided to speak to the manager (I was against it, I would have involved the HPA or the NHS instead) and asked him to force the sick man to get tested or otherwise to have him evicted.

 

At first the manager of the guest house was sympathetic with us and told us he would get rid of the guy in 24 hours. Then he changed his mind and granted the sick man another week but has now evicted my roommate with the motivation that by complaining he has brought the guest house into disrepute. I was unofficially told that I am also on the list of the unwanted and I would have to go.

 

Let me make it clear that I myself have never asked for the eviction of the sick man without having more details in hand and have behaved in a humane and respectful way.

 

I think the intention of the manager is to get rid of us and cover his mismanagement of the issue. I am pretty resigned to the idea that I'll have to go and I am angry because I feel that I and my roommate are victims: we could well be infected as a result of negligence and we will be evicted.

 

I just would like to have your opinion on this issue, if there is anything I can do to avoid my eviction: failing that how can I prove I have acted in good faith and the landlord has inflicted us a hard punishment. Thank you

[mariner51]

For guest house I am reading hostel.

As we know from recent case law a guest house owner cannot deny sep roomoccupancy on discrimnatory grounds eg sexual orientation etc but can evic,t any T/lodger/guest after service of due notice.

You suggest new occ is sharing your room , with a disease the g/h owner may be unaware of. We would need to understand the terms for your/his occupancy. Any health-related matters should be referred to rel local authority.

[BazzaS]

What communicable disease?.

 

I ask because which disease determines the way in which it is communicated, and if it has a carrier state or not.

 

I suspect the better way to go about this would have been to get your GP to ask the Local HPU (of the HPA, who you mentioned in your post) : "does my patient need any vaccinations, to do anything, or avoid anything in particular"

 

This places the focus on your well being, avoiding focusing on or asking questions about your roommates illhealth.

 

As for the "eviction" : housing law isn't an area I know much about, but I assume the landlord lives on the premises? Making you a 'lodger'?

If not, do you have any written agreement, and if so is it a tenancy?

[san_d]

 

As for the "eviction" : housing law isn't an area I know much about, but I assume the landlord lives on the premises? Making you a 'lodger'?

If not, do you have any written agreement, and if so is it a tenancy?

The landlord doesn't live on the premises. Well he does occasionally but only in his capacity as a manager. I'm not technically a lodger and I have no written agreement but I do have a letter stating that I am long term resident.

 

I would like to state that I don't object to his right to show a guest the door. I only say that it would look very unusual for him to show me the door as he hasn't done so recently unless for cases of insolvent guests. As I have a history of regular payments, he would need to find a way to make me look bad, so to speak. The other to-be-evicted roommate has a history of mental health problems but I haven't.

 

In other words I am pretty resigned to the fact I will have to go but I don't want the landlord to add injury to misery and build a history of unreliability on me.

[raydetinu]

Is this hostel or guest house licensed by the council?

Is it a HMO with a license?

How do you pay for the rent and on what basis, weekly, monthly etc.

What sort of contract and how long is it for?

sorry for the questions but trying to see what your legal rights are.

[san_d]

Is this hostel or guest house licensed by the council?

Is it a HMO with a license?

It is licensed as "budget accommodation for up to 140 occupants (Sui Generis)." [exact quotation in the hall of the building]

How do you pay for the rent and on what basis, weekly, monthly etc.

What sort of contract and how long is it for?

sorry for the questions but trying to see what your legal rights are.

I pay weekly. I have no written contract. I have (had) a verbal agreement with the previous manager that I could stay as long as I wanted. There's no shortage of accommodation here and there's no change in destination of either the building or the business in sight.