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 James Higging with his son Ami-Jay and carer Plume Tarrant |
Transplant patient fights to stay in home 30 years
Man with liver condition faces eviction because of storage room
A LIVER transplant patient has been told to move out of the home where he has lived for 30 years after council officials decided it was too big for his family.
James Higgins, 46, who was born with a genetic liver condition, his carer, Plume Tarrant, and 14-year-old son Ami-Jay are battling to keep their home in Carol Street, Camden Town, after the Town Hall ruled that a 9ft by 9ft storage room constituted a fourth bedroom.
This means the family of three no longer qualify to live in the council-owned house.
Camden Council says there is a severe shortage of large, affordable homes and it needs to make better use of the ones it has. Mr Higgins, who can no longer work after having a second liver transplant following complications in 2003, said: “Our lives have been ruined for two years.
“These are Ami-Jay’s formative years. All he’s had is us shouting at each other, him worried he’s going to have to leave his school, his friends, his home, and stress because he’s worried about my health.”
Mr Higgins’ doctors have written to say his health is fragile but, despite their pleas, the Town Hall is proceeding with eviction, which will be challenged by the family at a county court hearing in January.
Ms Tarrant, 53, said: “For one little room they are prepared to jeopardise Jimmy’s health and Ami-Jay’s mental health.
“I know there are people desperate for bigger houses and I’m lucky to live here. I believe in social housing and I’ve put my all into this street and community.”
She has campaigned to turn a neighbouring factory into a community centre and for a travellers’ site in Camden Street.
Ami-Jay’s support workers are backing the family’s plea that they should be allowed to stay after he suffered stress-related mental health problems.
He said: “The council should see that everyone has the right to have security and to a good life. Don’t just look at money, look at people’s feelings.”
Ms Tarrant, who helped establish the Carol Street Housing Co-operative, rescuing the row of 12 terraced houses where the family lives from demolition in 1983, says the threat of having to move has devastated her family.
Three years after co-op members voted for the properties to return to council management in 2000, tenants were told the houses were being taken back as family housing, overriding existing 30-year tenancy agreements.
The co-op has had a colourful background, housing actors, musicians and artists, including Scritti Politti band members and radical film director Dennis Cullum.
Mr Higgins said: “These houses wouldn’t still be standing if we and other residents hadn’t prevented their demolition.
“The council apparently decided to evict us last year, but we were not told about the consultation process and when we asked for written records of the council’s decision to evict us we were told these records don’t exist.
“Not everyone has been treated the same. Some neighbours have been told they can stay on a permanent basis while others, like us, have been given four weeks to leave.”
Mr Higgins’ solicitor Gareth Mitchell said: “It is remarkable that Camden Council is willing to spend thousands of pounds of council taxpayers’ money trying to evict this family because of an unoccupied 9ft by 9ft storage room.”
A council press official said: “When the housing co-operative in Carol Street failed, many of the homes we took over were underused and in need of renovation.
“We’ve been working to make better use of these homes to ensure current residents have homes suitable for their needs. We have re-let homes in Carol Street to large families who had been living in severely overcrowded conditions. These properties will change their lives completely.
“The outgoing residents had all been under-occupying but are now living happily in homes more suitable for their needs.
“We have offered James Higgins and Plume Tarrant suitable alternative accommodation very nearby that takes into account Mr Higgins’s and their son’s health problems. We hope they will accept this offer and avoid the need for further litigation.” |
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