A Bangladeshi father-of-nine who receives disability benefits says he will fight against being evicted from a retirement home where he lives with his wife and young twin daughters – unless they are found somewhere bigger.
Shahidul Haque, 59, who claims benefits for sleep apnea and depression, moved into the single-room flat in David Smith Court, a complex reserved for residents over the age of 55, last July.
But just five months later he moved his 28-year-old wife Jakia Sultana Monni and their three-year-old daughters into the property.
Mr Haque said he did not realise he was not allowed to move his family into the specialist accommodation for the elderly, because he does not speak enough English to understand the tenancy agreement.
Now he is battling his eviction, claiming that kicking his family out of the accommodation would breach his rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – which protects the right to a family life.
Digging his heels in, Mr Haque complained the property is too small for a family of four – and has demanded they be rehoused somewhere with more space before he agrees to leave.
Residents of David Smith Court in Reading, Berkshire, have complained constantly of ‘excess noise’ and ‘anti-social behaviour’ from the family, including the children repeatedly pulling the emergency cord and disturbing people living there.
Officials at Southern Housing, who own the retirement complex, have told Mr Haque he has breached his contract agreement – and taken him to Reading County Court to claim back the flat.
Bangladeshi father-of-nine Shahidul Haque, 59, moved into the single-room flat in David Smith Court, Reading, Berkshire, a complex reserved for residents over the age of 55, last July
Just five months later he moved his 28-year-old wife Jakia Sultana Monni (pictured) and their three-year-old daughters into the property
Mr Haque said he did not realise he was not allowed to move his family into the block, because his knowledge of English meant he did not understand the tenancy agreement
But lawyers for Mr Haque blame the misunderstanding on the fact that the Terms and Conditions of the tenancy agreement were never translated for him into his first language of Sylheti.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail for the first time, Mr Haque insisted he had done nothing wrong and said: ‘When I filled out the tenancy agreement I was on my own and I moved into the flat alone.
‘I didn’t know that I couldn’t move my wife and children in months later. My English is not so good and nothing was explained to me in any detail.
‘Southern Housing cannot just throw us out. We have to stay here, because we have nowhere else to go.
‘What we really need is a bigger home. This property isn’t suitable for a family. It’s too small, it’s only for a single person.
‘We have only one bedroom and so have to push two beds together. One for me and my wife and one for my daughters. It’s too crowded.
‘If Southern Housing or West Berkshire Council can find us somewhere more suitable then we’ll go. But at the moment we have no other place – this is it.’
Mr Haque has been living in the UK since 1997 and says he has a British passport.
Mr Haque has complained the property is too small for a family of four – and has demanded they be rehoused somewhere with more space before he agrees to leave
Mr Haque is battling his eviction, claiming that kicking his family out of the accommodation would breach his rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
Residents of David Smith Court have complained constantly of ‘excess noise’ and ‘anti-social behaviour’ from the family, including the children repeatedly pulling the emergency cord and disturbing people living there
Pictured: The emergency cord has been tied up after other residents complained Mr Haque’s children kept activating it
He was married to his first wife with whom he had seven children and lived in a four-bedroom home in Plaistow, East London.
But when he divorced he became homeless and was put up in temporary accommodation and then social housing in Newham before being transferred to Berkshire.
He arrived at David Smith Court where his self-contained flat costs £110.70 per week in July 2024.
Mr Haque claims he made an application in October that year for his second wife and daughters to join him in the UK from Sunamganj, a city in the north of Bangladesh where they were living. They moved into the property on December 20.
His children were born in Bangladesh, but are British citizens and his wife is in the UK on a spousal visa.
Mr Haque previously worked at a Bangladeshi restaurant in London. But now he is registered disabled and receives taxpayers’ money for diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea, hypertension and depression.
Taiwo Temilade, a solicitor for Southern Housing, said the family’s behaviour was ‘negatively affecting’ residents.
Mr Temilade told Reading County Court: ‘The Defendant’s two young children have become a source of excess noise levels and anti-social behaviour, negatively affecting other residents within the estate through misuse of safety features and generally rambunctious behaviour.’
Mr Haque arrived at David Smith Court, where his self-contained flat costs £110.70 per week, in July 2024
Mr Haque formerly lived in east London, but when he divorced he became homeless before being offered accommodation in Berkshire
Officials at Southern Housing, who own the retirement complex, have told Mr Haque he has breached his contract agreement – and must be evicted
However, Mr Haque said: ‘My children play and sometimes they argue, and the neighbours complain but they are only small. I try and keep them as quiet as possible.
‘They go to a local nursery so they’re not always at home in the day.
‘They have sounded the emergency alarm by pulling the security cords, but I’ve wrapped the cords around the intercom phone to stop that from happening.
‘In London, I lived in a four-bedroom home. We need a house, not a small one-bed flat.’
In a written defence, Mr Haque’s barrister Isabel Bertschinger argued: ‘It is averred that the Terms and Conditions of the tenancy agreement were never explained to the Defendant via a Sylheti interpreter or translated into Sylheti in a written document such that the Defendant could understand them.’
Sylheti is mainly spoken in a the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, with other speakers living in India.
Ms Bertschinger continued: ‘Disabled tenants are more likely to struggle to manage anti-social behaviour by others who live or visit their home.’
Mr Haque claimed that he had informed Southern Housing on January 2 that his wife and children had very recently arrived in the UK and had nowhere else to live, other than the property, adding the local council had not offered them alternative accommodation.
Mr Haque is registered disabled and receives taxpayers’ money for diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea, hypertension and depression
Mr Haque said: ‘In London, I lived in a four-bedroom home. We need a house, not a small one-bed flat’
Ms Bertschinger argued: ‘The Claimant’s decisions to institute, pursue continue to seek possession of the property are incompatible with the Defendant’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and possession would constitute a disproportionate interference therewith.
‘He is disabled and has limited English language skills, and that he is in receipt of benefits and therefore has a low income.
‘His wife and children have only recently arrived in the UK and would be particularly vulnerable if made homeless.
‘To evict him from his home would have a serious and drastic impact on the Defendant’s health and wellbeing and therefore on his private life, and to prevent him from living with his wife and children would have a severe and disproportionate impact on his family life.’
At the hearing on August 4, deputy district judge Simon Lindsey declined to immediately order that Southern Housing could take possession of the flat, saying there were ‘a number of issues’ in the case.
The judge said: ‘Fundamentally, I think the defendant probably should not be in this property with his wife and two children, but the question of how he came to be in this place appears to be unresolved and we have to get to that another time.’
The case is due to be heard on January 6 next year at Reading County Court.
Southern Housing declined to comment.
Mr Haque’s barrister Isabel Bertschinger said: ‘To evict him from his home would have a serious and drastic impact on the Defendant’s health and wellbeing and therefore on his private life’
Mr Haque’s case is due to be heard on January 6 next year at Reading County Court
Isobel Ballsdon, a Conservative councillor on Reading Borough Council, called the situation ‘outrageous’.
‘It seems this person is gaming the system,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘Accommodation for people who are retired is not going to be suitable for children.
‘It’s also a question of fairness – we have veterans who are homeless.’
Speaking on GB News, another councillor Raj Singh said: ‘I have no sympathy for what I have read on the interviews.
‘If he was able to fill out forms for housing and asylum seekers, then how can he claim he did not understand the contract details. It’s for me bonkers.’
Last week, the Attorney General said Labour would consider ‘robust’ changes to the way British courts interpret Article 8 of the ECHR over concerns it is being abused.
Article 8 has been repeatedly used by illegal migrants and serious criminals to frustrate efforts to deport them from the UK.
