A MIGRANT who was allowed to move his wife and kids into a retirement home has moaned the accommodation is too small for his family.
Shahidul Haque, 59, moved his 28-year-old wife and three-year-old daughters into the retirement home in Reading last year.
naShahidul Haque said he did not realise he was not allowed to move his wife and daughters into the specialist accommodation[/caption]
Haque, who claims disability benefits for depression and sleep apnea has since demanded the council provide his family with larger digs.
He moved his family into the single-bed flat in the complex, reserved for residents over the age of 55, just five months after signing his tenancy agreement.
Lawyers claim Haque could not understand the tenancy agreement at the accommodation, saying he was never shown the contract in his native language Sylheti, which is mainly spoken in Bangladesh.
He is now battling eviction after councillors accused him of “gaming the system.”
Haque has claimed evicting him and his family from the flat would breach his rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The stubborn migrant has refused to leave the property, which he says is too small for a family of four, unless he is provided with more space.
Officials from Southern Housing, the company that owns the retirement complex, have taken Haque to Reading County Court in a bid to reclaim the flat.
Residents of the complex have continuously complained about the family’s anti-social behaviour and “constant noise.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail Haque 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.”
He went on to rail against Southern Housing saying the firm can’t simply kick him out as his family have nowhere else to go.
Haque demanded a bigger home saying the single bed flat he moved his family into isn’t suitable for a family.
He explained how he, his wife and his kids are forced to share a single bedroom and said the small retirement property is too crowded.
Haque said he would only leave the property if Southern Housing or West Berkshire Council find him somewhere more suitable.
He has been living in the UK since 1997 and claims to have a British passport.
The migrant was living in a four-bedroom East London home with his first wife before the couple divorced and Haque became homeless.
Haque, who had seven children with his first wife, was placed in social housing in Newham before he was transferred to Berkshire.
He moved into his flat in the retirement complex, which costs £110.70 per week, in July 2024.
He claims he applied for his second wife and daughters to come to the UK from Sunamganj, a city in the north of Bangladesh, in October.
In December his second wife and his daughters moved into the tiny flat.
Haque’s children were born in Bangladesh but hold British citizenship, his wife is in the UK on a spousal visa.
A solicitor for Southern Housing 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 said his children were only small, adding that sometimes they argue but that he tries to keep them as quiet as he can.
The children attend a local nursery so are not always at home according to Haque.
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.”
Haque previously worked in a Bangladeshi restaurant in London but currently claims disability benefits.
His barrister argued that it was significantly harder for a disabled tenant to manage anti-social behaviour by others who may visit or live in their home.
The migrant claimed he notified the council of his family’s arrival in the UK and informed the authority that they had nowhere else to live.
He said the local authority had not offered them alternative accommodation.
The hearing on August 4 saw deputy district judge Simon Lindsey declined to immediately order that Southern Housing could take possession of the flat.
According to the judge there were a “number of issues” in the case.
Simon Lindsey went on to say: “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.
naHaque is now demanding his family is offered accommodation with more space[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
