A West London social housing tenant has been landed with a £7,500 court bill after failing in his attempt to fight his landlord’s plan to relocate him.
Co-op Homes, the landlord for tenants living in riverside flats on Carnwath Road, Fulham, had applied for a possession order to remove David McGinty from his home of 26 years to allow for the building’s demolition.
The block Mr McGinty lives in, plus an adjoining building, are to be knocked down and replaced under the scheme but Mr McGinty was resisting efforts to relocate him to a property in the new development with no river view.
Led by developer Rockwell on the former Hurlingham Retail Park, it will deliver 269 new homes plus amenities from food and drink spaces to new public realm.
Mr McGinty had argued the two-bed property offered to him as a replacement was not like-for-like, in particular due the lack of a river view.
At Wandsworth County Court earlier today (June 13), Deputy District Judge Anderson however found that, on the basis there will be no enforcement until the new flat is completed, the possession order would be granted. Mr McGinty must also pay costs of £7,500.
Mr McGinty, who is the last tenant still refusing to leave, has previously spoken to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) about his fight to retain his home.
He said: “Being here really helped me; really helped my mental health. I was a community bus driver for a long time and getting back here and watching things like the cormorants and things over years, you develop a sense of being part of nature here.”
Michael Mullin, legal counsel for Co-op Homes, put to the court that much of what Mr McGinty had submitted did not constitute a substantive defence.
He did however make clear that the request for a possession order was on the basis that it would not be enforced until the new flat was finished.
Representing himself, Mr McGinty told the court the proposed property was not a suitable alternative, with the lack of a river view and pollution from nearby traffic particular concerns.
“We are being demoted,” he said. “We will be put elsewhere by a major set of traffic lights and a main road that is way far away from the river.”
“[Co-op Homes] talk about suitability,” he added. “No one has discussed any of this with us.”
While the difference in the quality of the river view when comparing Mr McGinty’s current and proposed homes was not contested, Mr Mullin said the floorplan and number of bedrooms at the new flat will be the same.
He also pointed to the increase in homes which are to be delivered under the scheme.
On why he wishes to remain in his existing property, Mr McGinty said: “We have managed to have a family and a home and I can’t express how important it is to me. To have this home taken away from me unlawfully, I would say, that would ruin my life.”
Following Judge Anderson’s decision, Mr McGinty said he would look to appeal the decision and described the associated court costs as “outrageous”.
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