Council bailiffs evict couple and their four children for not paying their rent and spending £40 a week on JustEat takeaway meals instead
- Daniel Eyers and Lucrezia Worrell were forced out of temporary accommodation
- Couple and their four children evicted from council flat for not paying the rent
- Mr Eyers, 32, says he cannot work and Lucrezia, 27, is eight months pregnant
- Pair have been spending up to £40 every week on takeaways, council found
- Offered home in Tyne and Wear but refused it because they want to stay in Kent
Published: 06:23 EDT, 12 July 2019 | Updated: 08:30 EDT, 12 July 2019
A couple and their four children have been evicted from their council property after splashing out up to £40 a week on takeaways rather than pay their rent.
Daniel Eyers and Lucrezia Worrell, who is eight months pregnant with their fifth child, have been forced out of temporary accommodation in Chatham, Kent.
Mr Eyers, 32, says he cannot work because he needs to take his children, aged five, four and two-year-old twins, to school, and Lucrezia, 27, is set to give birth any day.
But Medway Council officers told them they had made themselves ‘intentionally homeless’ after an investigation revealed they paid for takeaway orders instead of the rent on the £190,000 three-bedroom terraced house.
Daniel Eyers and his partner Lucrezia Worrell have been made homeless by the council for ‘ordering takeaways instead of paying their rent’
The couple have been in emergency accommodation in Gillingham, Kent, but were recently told by the council their case for housing in Medway was being reviewed
Mr Eyers, who said Indian and Chinese takeaways were his favourite, admitting he was late paying the rent but said he ‘always pays the money that’s owed’.
He added: ‘We like to treat the children once a week to a takeaway. They don’t usually get much, so it’s a nice treat.
‘It was my son’s birthday the other month and we spent £45 but were told by the council we were spending money on non-essentials rather than paying rent.’
They had left a property in Chatham in April after receiving a section 21 notice, meaning their landlord wanted to end the tenancy, in June 2018.
They have been in emergency accommodation in Gillingham, Kent, but were recently told by the council their case for housing in Medway was being reviewed.
The couple had to send over their bank statements – which showed the takeaway app payments – and have since been asked to leave the temporary council accommodation
Council investigators found the couple have been paying up to £40 a week for takeaways – and falling behind with their rent payments
Medway Council officials then asked them to provide their bank statements after they failed to keep up with the rent.
The couple and their four children lived in this £190,000 three-bedroom terraced house in Chatham, Kent
The couple had to send over their bank statements – which showed the takeaway app payments – and have since been asked to leave the temporary council accommodation.
They have been offered a house in Tyne and Wear, in the north east of England, but turned it down because they want to stay in Medway.
Mr Eyers said: ‘I’ve been a Medway resident my whole life. It was hard enough being moved from Chatham to Gillingham as my children go to school in Chatham.
‘I couldn’t get a job as it meant my children would miss out on school, as I have to drive them there everyday.’
Mark Breathwick, head of strategic housing at Medway Council, said support was provided to Mr Eyers before he was evicted and the council has continued to help him since.
He added: ‘Emergency accommodation is provided to people where appropriate.’
Bailiffs turned up at the house on Monday while the pair were on the school run.
The family are currently staying at Mr Eyer’s mother’s home and ‘have no idea where to go next.’
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