Camden News - by DAN CARRIER Published: 2 April 2009
Eviction threat to widow
IT has been her home for the best part of 45 years – but now a Hampstead widow faces an anxious wait to see if she will be evicted.
Patricia Whitehouse, who is in her 70s, has lived in Netherhall Gardens since 1963 with her spouse Ronald, who died in November.
Landlord Ah Loi Lee, who has owned the home since 1969, wants to sell up.
Now Mrs Whitehouse is waiting to discover if the Court of Appeal will overturn an earlier judgment that said it was within Ms Lee’s rights to demand Mrs Whitehouse move, and provide her with an alternative flat.
Ms Lee, who spent £32,000 to buy the house, wants to sell the property. It could go for as much as £3 million.
Mrs Whitehouse’s barrister Tracey Bloom told the court last Wednesday that her client had her rent paid by housing benefit and was a much loved figure in the street who had helped found the Netherhall Gardens Community Association and had been involved in numerous local charities.
The judges were told a move to a block of flats in Cleve Road, Hampstead had been offered but Netherhall Gardens was where she had spent much of her life and any move would be severely distressing.
Judges Lord Justice Waller, Lord Justice Rimer and Lord Justice Aikens also heard that the Cleve Road property was significantly smaller.