Injunction against eviction and disposal of property?

[Zebedeel]

Nearly four months ago I was evicted from my allotment as part of a vindictive campaign by the chair and secretary of the site. I have been severely harassed over a sustained period of time and a number of defamatory claims have also been circulated about me.

i have already taken legal advice and established that the eviction process was illegal. The last three months have been spent, working with various allotment organisations, trying to resolve the situation through arbitration or mediation. However the allotment committee has refused point blank to engage; they have also refused me any right of reply or appeal.

They finally confirmed only two days ago that they had no intention of taking part in any mediation and say they will clear my plot and dispose of my possessions in a week’s time. I have hundreds of pounds’ worth of plants, tools, furniture and structures on the site. I have no intention of giving in and, as the local authority refuses to intervene, court action appears to be my only option.

What I would like to know is, would attempting to get an injunction be the best option and, if so, could this overrule the eviction or just prevent my property from being disposed of?

Any advice would be very gratefully received.

[echat11]

If you are being illegally evicted then an 'injunction' would put a stop to that. Then the question of your plants and tools becomes irrelevant because the potential eviction would 'stop'.

R0b Can you please take a look and advise, many thanks.

[R0b]

You could obtain an injunction, but this would be temporary and the court would want to hear that you are going to commence proceedings for the illegal eviction otherwise an injunction may not be granted.

It may also be wise to put them on notice that you have taken advice and that there are grounds that the eviction was unlawful, and you intend to take action against them for the eviction. Moreover, you're concerned that they intend to remove all of your possessions from the plot without consent (have you been offered to collect them?) which you do not agree to. Ask them to confirm within the next 48 hours that they do not intend to remove the possessions until the dispute has been concluded via legal proceeding or, if you receive no response then you will be seeking to obtain an urgent injunction to prevent them from clearing the plot until the dispute has concluded.

The alternative is to sue them for the loss/damage of the possessions they have removed from the plot.

What is your end goal? Did the solicitor advise you on your rights and remedies and whether you would be entitled to stay on the plot per the contractual arrangement?

[Zebedeel]

Hi Rob, thank you very much for this. All I want is to remain on the allotment. I’m aware of the legislation that’s been breached in the eviction process but have had no advice as such as to ‘remedies’. I haven’t sent a letter before action or similar because up until Monday I was still hoping the dispute would be resolved through mediation. Yes, I have been offered the chance to remove my possessions but, again, was hoping to resolve the dispute so haven’t acted - to do so would have suggested I agreed to surrender the tenancy. Would it not be possible to obtain a permanent injunction? I have mountains of correspondence and other evidence.

[R0b]

I'm not sure you can apply for a permanent injunction for you to permanently remain on the plot for the rest of your living life, if that's what you're suggesting. Your allowance on the plot is presumably governed by a contractual arrangement so that still applies and if there is a right to evict you under that contract or particular legislation then I guess the committee could do that irrespective of the outcome of the court decision.

You can either apply for an emergency injunction and see if a court would agree to impose a temporary injunction prohibiting the committee from doing anything and/or allowing you to remain on the plot of land until the outcome of any dispute has been determined. If you issue proceedings then you can ask the court to make a declaration that the eviction was unlawful and for you to be entitled to remain on the plot of land subject to the terms of the contractual arrangement whatever that may be.

Alternatively, you don't seek an emergency injunction and you just issue proceedings but that will not prevent the committee from taking steps to remove/destroy your possessions and at that point you may have to amend your claim to add in the damage to possessions.

In an ideal situation you probably should get some legal assistance at the very least regarding any injunction and advice on the best process. If you go it alone then as a minimum you need to read up about the process and procedures.

[Zebedeel]

Thanks so much, Rob. Yes, contractually they could evict me with 12 months’ notice (my tenancy runs year-to-year) but were they to do this it would at least be manageable and I could leave under my own terms. As things stand, they’ve invented a contractual breach after deciding to evict me because I questioned some bad management practices. They also broke their own rules, and the law, with the notice period they stipulated (two weeks) and refused me any right of appeal. The local and national federations that tried to help me reach a mediated solution agree the committee’s behaviour is unlawful and have warned them to this effect. I definitely won’t attempt to do anything without legal advice. Hopefully the court would look favourably on the fact that I’ve spent nearly four months trying to resolve things through mediation, but the committee has messed all involved about and simply refused to engage.

[Manxman]

Zebedeel if you already have legal advice that the "eviction process was illegal"*, why ask for non-professional legal advice here?


* Do you really mean illegal - which would be a criminal offence - or do you simply mean "unlawful"?

[Zebedeel]

Zebedeel if you already have legal advice that the "eviction process was illegal"*, why ask for non-professional legal advice here?


* Do you really mean illegal - which would be a criminal offence - or do you simply mean "unlawful"?

If you read my original post you’ll see why I’m asking. Illegal means ‘contrary to or forbidden by law’, not exclusively criminal law. If you don’t intend to be helpful, why bother to post?