Social housing tenants are being made homeless due to eye-watering rents being demanded by their new landlord
“You’re led to believe you’re here for the rest of your life,” Annas Jawamir says. “Then through no fault of your own you’re suddenly told to leave.” Annas, 29, is staring blankly across the bare-bones of his living room in Marylebone for the last time before being forced into temporary accommodation.
Several bailiffs have watched on throughout this morning (Thursday, August 27) as Annas, with the help of his dad and brother, finishes packing up his family’s belongings and moving into emergency housing in Willesden. The eviction follows a Westminster City Council blunder which led to Gem House in Chiltern Street being sold off for private rent.
Social housing tenants paying around £795 a month have had their rent increased to £6,850 a month as the new landlord cashes in on the block’s upmarket location. Families living across 16 flats have been told to fork out the eightfold increase in rent or pack up and leave.
Speaking to MyLondon on Thursday, August 27, Annas claims bailiffs have been at Gem House throughout the week to carry out the evictions.
“It’s been complete chaos here,” he adds. “No one knows what’s even happening to us. Everything has been so quick and we’ve had no time to process it.
“The council has known this would happen for years but thought the best time to tell us and take action was last week. Looking around now I feel like I’m in a stranger’s home, it’s so weird.”
Annas, who lives in the three-bedroom flat with his mum and sister, says the eviction has come at a particularly difficult time for his family. “My mum is going in for a hip operation tomorrow,” he continues.
“So this means she’s moving back into a completely different flat that’s much smaller. We had been in temporary accommodation for eight years before settling here
“We thought ‘great, fantastic’, this is our forever home, but now we’re back to square one. We all feel so humiliated.”
Another Gem House resident Mr Banjak said bailiffs came to evict him on Tuesday, August 25 and he’s now staying at a temporary flat in Westminster. MyLondon understands multiple other tenants are appealing their eviction so have not yet been made to leave.
The 16 flats were sold to Gem House Limited due to a legal loophole within the council’s original agreement with the site developer. Westminster City Council launched a legal claim to stop the new landlord from converting the social homes to private rentals, but this was rejected by the Court of Appeal earlier this month.
As a result, the new landlord can freely charge eye-watering rent on the flats situated a stone’s throw from Baker Street station. When Gem House was first built in the 2010s, Westminster City Council required all 16 flats to be kept as affordable accommodation.
But when social housing provider Kinsman went bankrupt in 2023, its lender who took control of block sold it to Gem Properties Limited for £12.6million
Councillor Concia Albert, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing Services, said: “The people living here are not private tenants who found their homes on the open market. They were placed in these flats by Westminster Council on the understanding that these were affordable homes.
“Westminster Conservatives must now take responsibility for the consequences of their own contract and ensure every affected resident is rehoused promptly in suitable, secure accommodation within the borough. These people did everything that was asked of them and should not lose their homes because of a mistake that had nothing to do with them.”
Responding to MyLondon, Westminster City Council did not commit to providing direct offers to affected residents. A spokesperson said: “Westminster faces significant demand for affordable home and there are more than 6,500 households currently on the housing register.
“We commenced legal action against the landlord of Gem House in 2024 and challenged the landlord’s decision to abandon the original Section 106 agreement, believing that it was in the best interests of the community for these properties to remain affordable homes.
“We recognise that this is an unsettling time for residents and we continue to work closely with the affected households – providing advice and support with their housing options.”
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