Hundreds of tenants could be left without homes after a controversial landlord plans to cash in his empire of 300 properties
At one time, Fergus Wilson and his wife Judith Wilson were thought to own up to 1,000 properties, making them one of the biggest buy-to-let couples in the country and earning them a place on the Sunday Times’ Rich List.
However, following the prosecution of Judith Wilson at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court in November 2018 for failing to supply hot water to tenants, it seems Mr Wilson is seeing through a threat he made outside the court that the couple would sell off the existing 300 properties in their portfolio.
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Mrs Wilson was fined £10,000 at the hearing in November and ordered to pay £14,890 in legal costs after failing to comply with council enforcement notices when tenants, one of whom was wheelchair-bound, were left with a faulty boiler for a period of five months.
Court judgement
In sentencing, District Judge Barron said: “I find that Mr and Mrs Wilson could have had the work carried out within the period allowed by the abatement notice but chose not to. In this case those were not the actions of responsible landlords.”
The Wilsons’ barrister had argued in court that the fine was not in the public interest as the couple would have to evict a family and sell a house in order to pay it.
Following sentencing, Mr Wilson declared to reporters outside the court that he would be serving notices to the tenants in his 300 homes to quit after Christmas, but that he would at least wait until the 14th January before doing so.
This week, true to his word, the Wilsons began serving Section 21 notices, which give tenants two months to find somewhere else to live before they are evicted.
Mr Wilson is expected to issue hundreds more eviction notices in the next few months before retiring to "take life easy".
Speaking to The Independent he said: “I do feel sad for people who are going to be homeless, it will be hardest for parents with young children, because most landlords won’t accept them".
In an interview with The Guardian he added: “I feel remorse but, at the same time, I am going to have to do it... If I give them six months, so what? Unless somebody is going to rapidly build a lot more houses, where do the people live in the meantime?”
Controversial landlord
It’s not the first time Mr Wilson’s tenants have faced mass evictions. In January 2014, Mr Wilson told The Guardian newspaper that he had served eviction notices to over 200 tenants who received housing benefit.
However, it's far from the most controversial of Mr Wilson’s business practices. In 2017, he faced the wrath of the Equality and Human Rights Commission who overturned his policy on banning tenants who he said left his properties smelling of curry. Since then, Mr Wilson has also reportedly tried to ban zero-hours workers, single parents and "battered wives" from renting his properties.
Speaking to The Independent, a tenant, who asked not to be named, said: “I hate him. We all do. It’s low-rent housing – if I could afford to move elsewhere, I would.
“I’m not one of the first lot getting turfed out but I do feel like it’ll happen any day now".
The location authority has pledged to support those residents served with notices. Councillor Gerald White, housing portfolio holder for Ashford Borough Council, said: “We will help evicted tenants, as much as we can. If people need help they should contact our housing option team.”
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Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Archive/PA Images