Young family homeless for 4 months as tenant ‘still won’t move out’

Carna Brooks hugs her son (Image: Carna Brooks)A young family have shared their despair after being made homeless by their tenant, who they claim refused to leave their home.The family have now been locked out for 16 weeks and are still living out of suitcases. KentLive reported in August that teacher Carna and Ganes Brooks, who have two young children, were forced to sofa surf from July when they returned from abroad.They had returned to their front door with their suitcases and exhausted children to find their tenants, who they warned in February they were coming back, were still inside. KentLive has repeatedly reached out to the tenants involved but they have declined to respond.The couple, who have relied on the kindness of friends across England for a place to stay, are now having to live separately to keep a roof over their heads. They were intending to come home in May and they told their tenant this, but they were delayed because Carna was diagnosed with cancer and had to have treatment in Dubai, where they were both working.They do not own a home in Dubai, and had gone there to work for three years. The couple are still paying the mortgage, so they cannot afford rent and they say as the tenant is no longer paying rent, they are £13,000 out of pocket. Carna told KentLive they were granted a Possession Order on October 18 and thought they were “nearing the end of this disastrous road”. She said: “We continued to call shelters and again tried to apply for council support or emergency housing, but no luck. Our tenants were aware for five months about our return, then consciously left us homeless after many attempts from us to help them. Carna Brooks with her little one who is poorly (Image: Carna Brooks)”We are still homeless, yet, at the Possession Order Hearing, the judge gave them another two weeks’ notice to move out. Now the bailiffs will take at least six weeks to serve the order on them, after which they will receive another two weeks’ notice before eviction which they have the power to delay. Our matter is not being dealt with as urgent.”We feel that everything in this system is to delay tenants from being homeless while we as landlords of only one property are being victimised and left homeless for longer than needed. Tenants need to be declared homeless to get accommodation support. We were standing hopeless, helpless and homeless with our children on the street, yet we are not eligible for support.”The couple feel powerless as private landlords to make their tenants leave. They hoped to get back under their roof in November. Carna said when their tenant moved in they had left them with a “fully functioning home”.She said: “Even with new linen, towels, new fluffly slippers next to the beds, new cosy pyjamas, food cupboards stocked up and a grocery delivery for their first week. We felt it was the right thing to do to let them rent our home significantly below market value to help them financially and to take care of our belongings.”The couple said a Section 8 notice notifying the family they wanted their home back by June 28 – which has been seen by KentLive – was ignored and the tenants had fallen behind with their rent. The Christian couple said they told the tenant they would even waive rent to help them get a deposit together.The couple hope the law can be changed to a “fairer system”, to protect people like them who find themselves in such a desperate situation. Carna, whose husband Ganes is a construction project manager, said: “We are hardworking people in average-paid jobs. We saved for 11 years to be able to put a deposit on our home, a home which we cannot enter or enjoy together. “We have maxed out all our credit cards through these 4 months. This is debt which we will never be able to recover from. And in so doing, this legal system is creating yet another family who might need benefits in future.”She said: “We are grateful as the light at the end of the tunnel is in sight, however; this last stretch is now seriously affecting our whole family’s mental health and well-being. It takes every fibre of our being, to remain strong, resilient, patient, and try find the positive in every day.”She said as a Christian family they believed God had “kept our boat afloat throughout this storm”. She said: “We are extremely overwhelmed and feeling very blessed by the support of friends and strangers all over the world. We are pleading for the landlord and tenant law to be reviewed for a fairer system, to be in favour of both parties.”Speaking previously to Kent Live, the tenants said: “This is hilarious. We have been paying rent for three years. We have been paying their mortgage for three years.”Yes, it is their home. It is also our home for the last three years. We are paying them. I don’t need to give you my side of the story. This is none of your business please. Why would we be looking for somewhere else? I don’t need to explain myself to you or anyone.”