Scottish Human Rights Law Group

The local authority landlord sought recovery of possession of a top floor flat occupied by the defender, a single mother with language, cultural and mental health difficulties, and her children.   There had been a series of incidents which the council considered to be antisocial including the deliberate flooding of her neighbours living in flats below and the storage of rubbish which was flung from windows.    It was argued on behalf of the defender that her eviction would contravene her rights under Article 8 and that the local authority were acting unreasonably in refusing to offer her alternative accommodation and rendering her homeless.

In granting decree the sheriff held that against the background of the rent arrears, the flooding of neighbours and the anti-social behaviour of the defender her children were in cumulo sufficient to establish grounds for recovery of possession of the property under Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and consistently with Article 8(2) and given the degree of culpability of the defender for the behaviour resulting in her eviction that it had not been unreasonable in all the circumstances for the local authority to refuse to offer alternative accommodation.

Full report available at:

2001 Hous. L.R. 23