NEW HOUSING ENFORCEMENT AND SOLUTIONS TEAM

A Carmarthenshire County Council tenant has been evicted from her home for causing ongoing anti-social behaviour problems in her community.

The council’s new Housing Enforcement and Solutions team was successful in taking this case through the courts and obtaining a possession order on grounds of ASB at the property in Llanelli’s Biddulph Estate.

Following the legal process, the council then successfully applied for a warrant of eviction and took back possession of the property.

Given that the woman had made herself ‘intentionally homeless’ through her actions, the council no longer has a duty to re-house her.

The new Housing Enforcement and Solutions team, formally launched on September 1, takes a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to anti-social behaviour, and works with communities to tackle problems caused by other tenants that cannot be resolved amicably – this includes seeking injunctions against people who persistently harass tenants, enforced by police.

In the main though, the team was established to support tenants to maintain healthy tenancies.

The team will offer support and solutions to help tenants who face court action due to excessive rent arrears, and will work to recover rent arrears from former tenants.

It will also support tenants to abide by the terms and conditions of their tenancy, for example, ensuring they allow gas servicing to take place, and keeping their homes and gardens in a good condition.

Cllr Linda Evans, Executive Board Member for Housing, said: “As a Housing Service we have always tackled these issues, but forming this new team has allowed us to take a more targeted approach. We want our tenants to enjoy living in their homes and communities, and this team will aim to support that by working with tenants to maintain good relations and good quality homes.

“Even though we formally launched on September 1, the team has been working hard behind the scenes for some time and through its close working relationship with the neighbourhood policing team and residents of Morfa were pleased the court supported the eviction of a tenant who had been causing problems for her neighbours for some time.”