Duke of Devonshire evicts farmer

[Commander CMG]

For almost two centuries his family has run a farm on the Duke of Devonshire’s famous Chatsworth estate.

Edward Hill himself was born on Game Lea Farm, and has spent his life working hard to earn a living there – the seventh generation of his family to do so.

But now the farmer has been evicted from his Peak District home – all because of a rent payment that was one day late

Mr Hill, 63, suffers from Parkinson’s disease and blames his condition for forgetting to pay around £2,000 in overdue rent.

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[Frank Merton]

I remember a Monty Python skit about aristocrats running an obstacle course.

[Coffey]

Oh well another perosn who will need to claim benefits and then his children will follow in line now. So well done another elitist adding tot he problem instead of fixing it.

[Simbi Laveau]

SERIOUS FAIL !

What a son of a b**** !

[ExpandMyMind]

Chatsworth Estate? Who knew that Frank Gallagher was really the Duke of Devonshire...

[lightly]

i have a hunch there might be some personal differences between Mr. Hill and his most royal ostentatious dukeyness?

[Ashotep]

I bet he was wanting to get rid of him anyway and this was a convenient excuse to do so. What a moron.

[TSS]

I doubt it was because his rent was just one day late....I suspect there is a lot more going on then just that.

[libstaK]

Can you really evict someone for a one day late rent? Here you would need to make a reasonable attempt to make a payment arrangement with a long term tenant at the very least, then you would need a court order to enact an eviction - which would not be forthcoming as by the time it was issued and signed the arrears would have been paid.

Definitely bad blood there and me thinks the Duke will be eating humble pie on this unless there are serious extenuating circumstances or a long history of non payments at the very least.

Belay that, just read the article. The title is misleading, the payment came one day after the due date of the order to pay arrears, not one day after the actual rent was due.

Still think the Duke is callous though.

Edited March 23, 2013 by libstaK

[Frank Merton]

I have a feeling there is some tenancy law that prevents a normal eviction, and the Duke has some other more profitable use of the land in mind, so he was just waiting for a chance, and he got lucky and got it.

[Ealdwita]

Several things come to mind.......

How long was the rent overdue?

What legal processess had taken place?

What form did the tenancy agreement take?

Had an unauthorised 'change of use' taken place?

As in all types of tenancy, the tenant undertakes to maintain the property to a minimum standard, had this been fulfilled?

In no way do I condone His Grace's actions if he's acted in the way it's been reported, but like others on here, I suspect there's a lot more going on. (It's not like the Daily Mail to let the facts get in the way of a good story!)

(If you'll excuse me, I'm just off to horsewhip my tenants and ravish a village wench or two!)

[Frank Merton]

The Vietnamese government views deliberate failure to pay rent when due a form of theft, not unlike failing to pay for a restaurant meal after you've eaten it.

This gives landlords a bit of leverage, and I think serves to keep rents lower than they would otherwise be since landlords are not likely to have to eat unpaid rent. Most rental agreements say that the due date is automatically pushed back a given time (usually two weeks) provided the tenant tells the landlord he needs the extra time.

[Ealdwita]

Before the existance of Housing Associations, there were some Borough Councils who showed a certain amount of 'laxity' when it came to the non-payments of Housing rents and Council Tax. This enabled them to apply pressure (You vote that lot in and they'll be a lot tougher on you than we have been) to a large section of the electorate on election day!

[TheLastLazyGun]

Had he paid his rent on time he wouldn't have been kicked out, would he?

[Coffey]

Chatsworth Estate? Who knew that Frank Gallagher was really the Duke of Devonshire...

Hahahaha, that's hilarious. I can't believe I didn't see that.

Can you really evict someone for a one day late rent?

I doubt it, I think it's like a 3 strikes your out kinda thing and usually then it's not late rent that gets you that, it's not paying at all.

My landlord is a really nice guy though, so I wouldn't be able to say for everyone.I know he didn't kick a tennent out until he hadn't paid for like 6 months. lol I don't think thta makes him soft or a walkover, it makes me feel a lot safer in what is my home.