You may be living a property where you are having disputes with your neighbours. Legal Aid may be available if you qualify financially.
Noise
One of the most common problems people have with their neighbours is noise. If your neighbours cause persistent loud noise between the hours of 11pm and 7am and you are worried about contacting your neighbour to complain you should contact your local environmental health officer for help. In some circumstances you may also be entitled to apply for an injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act.
Harassment
Being the victim of harassment can be very distressing and you may be entitled to legal assistance in these circumstances. Harassment is very widely defined but there would have to be a course of conduct (which is to say that the behaviour that you are complaining about would have had to have happened more than once). It is possible to argue that you are being harassed through contact via postal or electronic mail, by telephone or by text messages, or by the physical presence of the person harassing you. If you are threatened with violence or assaulted you should contact the Police immediately. If you would like assistance in applying for an injunction (which is a court order to prevent the person from harassing you from continuing to do so) please contact our Housing Department.
Harassment by your landlord
Your landlord may believe that he have the right to visit the property you are renting from him without warning and look around your living quarters. This is not the case and if he persistently does this, and in doing so behave in a threatening or alarming way, you may be the victim of harassment. It can be difficult to stand up to your landlord but this is not only harassment but also a breach of your tenancy agreement and in some circumstances it may also be possible for criminal proceedings to be brought against your landlord. Our Housing Department will be in a position to advise you on the best course of action.
Possession
Your landlord may decide to evict you from your home for a number of reasons ranging from that the landlord simply wants to get the property back because he wants to sell it or live there himself to that you are in rent arrears or behaving antisocially. Just because your landlord says that he wants the property back does not mean that the Court will agree that he is entitled to an order for possession. In many cases our clients have retained their homes, through our intervention, and our Housing Department will know how, if you are unable to retain possession, to best ensure that you are rehoused by your local Council. It is best to contact our Housing Department as soon as you are aware that your landlord intends to seek an order for possession against you but we have in some circumstances even been able to prevent the loss of a client’s home after an order for possession has been obtained.
Legal Aid may be available if you qualify financially for this and if you have a valid defence.
Unlawful eviction
If your landlord has not taken appropriate legal action to evict you it is likely that you have been unlawfully evicted. Our Housing Department will be able to identify whether your landlord has taken appropriate steps or whether you have been unlawfully evicted. If you have been unlawfully evicted you will be entitled to claim damages (financial compensation) from your landlord and in some circumstances it may even be possible to get you back into the property that you have been evicted from. You should contact our Housing Department immediately if you have been unlawfully evicted.
Legal Aid may be available.
Mortgage Possession
If you have defaulted on your mortgage your mortgage lender may decide to seek possession of your home. Our Housing Department would be able to advise you on how to prevent your mortgage lender from taking possession of your home. Legal Aid may be available.
