A social landlord has been granted an anti-social behaviour injunction against a tenant who continually failed to keep the garden of her property tidy. It is thought to be the first time a social landlord has taken such drastic action.
Manchester County Court granted Trafford Housing Trust, who have thousands of properties protected by cheap landlord insurance in the North West area, an injunction against Carla Robinson after she allowed bags of rubbish and old furniture to build up in the back garden of her rented property over a period of seven months. In July 2011 Trafford Housing Trust were alerted to the condition of the garden and despite several warnings from both her landlord and the council she failed to clear the mess from her garden. When the housing trust returned to work after the festive period they applied to the court for an anti-social behaviour injunction against Ms Robinson on the grounds she was breaching her tenancy agreement which clearly states the garden has to be kept tidy.
Matthew Gardiner, Chief Executive of Trafford Housing Trust, said: “For more than seven months we have been talking to Ms Robinson about the condition of her garden and have offered her different options to help her remove the rubbish, but she took no action. It is a condition of our tenants’ tenancy agreement that they keep their gardens tidy and that they must not store rubbish, household furniture or appliances there. The condition of this garden was appalling. We are a firm but fair landlord and help is available to our tenants if they find themselves in a situation where things have got out of control, but we will not tolerate it if this help and support is ignored.”
At the hearing the judge was satisfied that Ms Robinson had breached her tenancy agreement and had ignored all contact made by her landlord. The injunction says that Ms Robinson has two weeks to clear everything from the garden of her home and she must also maintain the garden to a standard expected by her landlord. Trafford Housing Trust confirmed that they will not hesitate to take action against any tenant who breaks the tenancy agreement.