Housing association ordered to pay damages to disabled man it sought to evict

A disabled man who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia has won damages from Heart of England Housing Association, which sought to evict him.

Mr M was represented by Sebastian Elgueta of Garden Court Chambers’ housing team in a case at Coventry County Court.

The court dismissed the claim for possession and awarded Mr M £3,000 in damages.

District Judge Bull said erroneous views advanced in evidence as to duties under the Equality Act 2010 by two housing association staff ,and the fact that at least one had been trained on the issue, was “suggestive of systemic failings” within Heart of England.

Mr M had been a tenant since 2005. In August 2017 the landlord brought a claim for possession on the grounds of alleged anti-social behaviour.

Garden Court said a medical expert had concluded that many of the allegations were directly and indirectly connected with Mr M’s underlying mental health problems.

Heart of England argued in court that it had done everything it reasonably could to accommodate Mr M’s disability and had complied with its duties under the Equality Act 2010.

But the judge dismissed both arguments. He found the factual case against Mr M largely proven but said Heart of England had given little thought to Mr M’s disability and the effect upon him.

He accepted evidence from a mental health recovery worker that many of the effects of Mr M’s disability could be managed with adequate support but the association had not liaised with or notified the relevant support networks.

Heart of England is part of the Orbit group, a spokesperson for which said: “We have a resounding commitment to ensuring that we do not discriminate against anyone at any level and takes this matter extremely seriously.

“We offer range of services to our customers including Breathing Space, a free 24/7 mental wellbeing support service, and work closely with a number of partners to provide personal and confidential face-to-face support from qualified support workers.

“We have also improved our safeguarding policy to help identify both customers and employees who may be vulnerable and need additional support.”

Mark Smulian

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