Alan Johnson, a 68-year-old disabled pensioner, has been evicted from his home in Wolverhampton following a long-running legal dispute with the housing provider Wolverhampton Homes, leaving him feeling suicidal and placed in temporary accommodation he describes as unsuitable.
Mr Johnson, who suffers from osteoarthritis, was served notice to leave his property in Havelock Close, Bradmore, on Wednesday, July 29, where he had lived for the past 14 years. Two bailiffs and four representatives from Wolverhampton Homes arrived to execute the eviction order. He said the dispute began after the death of his 94-year-old mother, Violet, in 2016, whom he had cared for.
Eviction and Temporary Accommodation
Following his eviction, Mr Johnson spent one night in emergency hotel accommodation arranged by Wolverhampton council, before sleeping in his car after being unable to find further shelter. He claims a member of the council's homeless team gave him a phone number for The Solace hostel, which provides temporary accommodation for vulnerable people, and he spent a week at the property.
During his stay, Mr Johnson said he was placed in a room "without a window" in a property housing "ex-drug offenders" along Tettenhall Road, in the Chapel Ash area. He claims another resident told him the room had been "condemned by the council." The City of Wolverhampton Council categorically denied that it had placed Mr Johnson in a facility with a windowless room.
Mr Johnson has since been moved to a "quieter" property in the Chapel Ash area, also run by the hostel, but he said the situation is still far from ideal. Speaking to BirminghamLive, he said: "They've been wanting to rehouse me, and I've refused it, but I ended up in a place for ex-drug offenders. They put me in a room that didn't even have a window. Apparently, that had been condemned by the council. I had a week in there. Then they moved me over to a room in a house across the road, which is a bit quieter, but you still feel a bit like, 'F*** me, what am I doing here?'"
Legal Dispute and Court Costs
Mr Johnson said Wolverhampton Homes claimed he no longer fitted the criteria to reside in the property and took him to court, leaving him with a court bill of more than £3,000. He said he had bid on over 100 council properties and over 200 private places but was unsuccessful. "I've bid on over 100 (council properties) and over 200 private places, but I never got them," he said. "I'm banging my head against the wall now because I turned them down and I've ended up in the b****y place I am, plus with b****y £3,250 court costs. It's really getting me down."
Wolverhampton Homes said that Mr Johnson was not a registered tenant following his mother's death in 2016, but stated they allowed him to stay in the property for ten years while offering him "more than 20 different homes," all of which he turned down. Responding to the provider's claims, Mr Johnson described the offered properties as "s*** holes" and insisted he had actively tried to secure suitable alternative housing himself.
"I was happy in my old home, it was a bungalow, with a walk-in shower, everything. I couldn't keep the tenancy on," he said. "I was looking for a bungalow, but I don't need a garden because I wouldn't be able to care for it. I just want a little flat."
Belongings at Risk
In a further blow, Mr Johnson said Wolverhampton Homes gave him seven days' notice to remove all items from his former home, including cherished possessions belonging to his late parents, after the eviction. The former school caretaker only found out about the notice through a neighbour. As a result, he had to rush to clear the property, cramming most items into his former neighbour's shed. Due to his mobility issues, another neighbour helped with the legwork. All remaining items were stuffed into the back of his car.
"When I'd gone, my neighbour phoned me and said they'd stuck a thing on my door, giving me seven days to get my stuff, or it was going to be disposed of, and I'd have to pay for it," he explained. "I went back and ripped it off the front door. We never had much as a family, but I had my mom's stuff, and my dad's stuff, and all that was going to end up in a skip. I was upset because it was like a family house as well, not just some place I was being evicted from. It's getting me mad now thinking about them, how they can just throw you in the street and you've got nowhere to go."
Mr Johnson, who receives benefits, said he feels suicidal. "The chap who brought me over said, 'Do you smoke?' I said, 'I don't', and he said, 'Don't go out with a packet of fags or you'll have none left.' I need to get out, but I can't. I feel suicidal, I tell you. I have contemplated it, and it's still going through my mind now."
Provider Response and Next Steps
In response to the story, a Wolverhampton Homes spokesperson said: "Mr Johnson was not a Wolverhampton Homes tenant. He remained in the property following the death of his mother in 2016, while we worked with him to find somewhere suitable to live. Under the council’s tenancy rules, Mr Johnson was not entitled to take over the tenancy when his mother died. However, we allowed him to stay in the property while our teams supported him to find alternative accommodation. Over the following ten years, Mr Johnson was offered more than 20 different homes, but he chose not to accept any of them. Cases like this are usually resolved much more quickly, but throughout that time we continued to work with Mr Johnson and do our best to help him find a suitable home. There are more than 8,200 families on the housing register in Wolverhampton and we are committed to ensuring that every resident has a safe, stable and affordable home that they want and need. The City of Wolverhampton Council Homeless Services team offered support to Mr Johnson on several occasions, but he declined the help offered."
Mr Johnson is currently bidding on new properties, both council-run and privately owned, and is even trying his luck in nearby Codsall and Shropshire due to his experiences in Wolverhampton. Before his eviction, he claimed an officer told him: "You'll live where we want you to live, not where you want to live."
