‘I felt sick being evicted from our Suffolk home of 55 years’

Havebury Homes would not tell the BBC why it had decided to evict the brothers from the home but said it would “always work with residents to help them explore an alternative housing option”.

“As a social landlord, we have a responsibility to make sure our homes are allocated fairly and in line with our allocations policy,” a spokesperson said.

“This helps ensure that our homes are available to those with the greatest housing need.”

Richard O’Driscoll, West Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for housing, said the authority would try to support any tenants facing eviction.

“We’d look to work with the landlord and people living in the property to see if [the situation] could be overcome [so they could] maintain the tenancy,” he said.

“If that is neither possible or appropriate we would either support the tenant through a period of homelessness such as through temporary accommodation or advise them if private rent housing is more suitable to their means, and assist them with the latter if this is their choice.

“As a rule, while we advise members of a household on their options, we do not force any household to separate.”

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