A 75-year-old woman from the Italian city of Pavia has successfully evicted her 40 and 42-year-old sons through court. The woman stated that she had tried multiple times to convince her sons to live more independently, as they have jobs but still live at home with their mother and do not contribute to household chores or expenses. The judge agreed with the elderly woman and issued an eviction order for the men. According to Eurostat, in 2021, more than one-third of adults aged 18 to 34 in Europe lived with their parents, with the highest rates in Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, and Italy. While Italy has a long-standing culture of multiple generations living under one roof, in recent years, the number of adults staying in the family home for longer has increased, attributed to difficult economic conditions and the prolonged time it takes to find stable employment. However, these adults are also criticized for taking advantage of free housing and meals provided by their parents. In Italy, there is even a term for them, bamboccioni (big babies). [1df5d849]
In a separate incident, squatters Denton Gayle, 29, and Margaret Grover, 19, were finally evicted from a dilapidated home in Long Island after attempting to trick the court system. The couple had been first arrested and removed from the home in October 2023 after a neighbor reported that they had their child living in squalor. However, they were able to move back into the home in December by claiming to have signed a lease with the supposed property owner, Edward Iacono, who had been dead for nearly eight years. The squatters were finally evicted on April 14, 2024, with the assistance of local sheriffs. The neighbors celebrated the eviction as a victory for a safe and peaceful community. [bacc7296]
In Hounslow, west London, a family of refugees is facing severe overcrowding in their property, with the terminally ill stepfather being forced to sleep on the floor. Irina's parents, Petro and Ulyana, fled Ukraine due to the war and joined her and her two daughters in their two-bedroom flat. Despite Petro's ongoing palliative care for pancreatic cancer, the council has refused to move them to a more suitable property that can accommodate a hospital bed. In November 2023, the family took Hounslow Council to the High Court, and a judge ruled that the council had acted unlawfully by not considering the family's needs properly. The judge stated that the council should have offered them an "exceptional needs referral panel". After the judgment, Hounslow Council reconsidered the application and ruled in February that the family was entitled to a four-bedroom property. However, the family has been shown a three-bedroom property that they feel is not suitable and will not accommodate a hospital bed. Hounslow Council has instructed the family to review their decision to refuse the property before moving forward. [302d091f]
In Slough, landlord Lakhbir Singh Rakhra has been fined £24,000 after his tenants, a family of five, were left without heating. The single parent and her four children had been living without heating since 2016 and had made multiple complaints to the landlord, who failed to address the hazards in their home. The council issued an Improvement Notice in May 2022, requiring the landlord to complete repairs and install appropriate heating by July 2022, or face a fine. The landlord failed to comply and was issued a £25,000 fine in February 2023. The heating was only fixed in October 2022. The landlord appealed the penalty, claiming the tenant obstructed him from carrying out the repairs, but the Tribunal upheld the fine, minus £1,000 for wear and tear. The Tribunal stated that the landlord should have sought injunctive relief if he was truly being obstructed. Niki Bhogal, a Housing Regulation Officer, hopes this case serves as a warning to other landlords to take their responsibilities seriously. [cc762bfa]