Elderly Canvey residents face eviction from retirement homes

Tom Bird said he felt the park was putting elderly and vulnerable residents "out on the streets"

Elderly residents who rent homes at a retirement village fear being homeless after being told they would be evicted.

The mobile home park in Canvey, Essex, wrote to 20 units saying phase one of evictions would start in September, as it moved away from rentals.

Resident Tom Bird, 80, who has been told he needs to move, said he was "stressed out" and not sleeping because of the news.

Kings Park Village said it was taking steps to help those affected.

There are 20 rental homes on the park of around 860 properties and all have been told they will face eviction at some point. Three have been told they must leave by September.

Mr Bird has lived on the park for 15 years, since he retired, and said he would need to vacate his home by 15 September.

He described the decision as "atrocious".

He said: "We're all elderly people. The majority of us class ourselves as vulnerable as well. This is no way to treat a community and to put us out on the streets. The council have a waiting list as long as your arm, so where are we going to go?

"I'm stressed out, I'm not sleeping properly."

'Heartless'

Gordon Pick, 65, lives with his friend Chris Murphy, 73, in another rental unit and has labelled the situation "a nightmare".

Mr Pick, who has had cancer several times, and Mr Murphy, who has had three heart attacks, said they worried about how the stress would take a toll on their health.

"They don't think about that, they're heartless," said Mr Pick.

"We try to laugh about it but it's not funny. They shouldn't be doing that to people our age.

"I've lived here just under 16 years. Why are they doing this? It's just money-grabbing."

Chris Murphy and Gordon Pick are concerned about their health due to stress

The friends have three pets and worry it would impact their ability to find a new home.

A spokesperson for Kings Park Village said it had opted to become a completely owner-occupied park.

"We understand this may be a difficult decision for some of our tenants and that is why we are engaging with them at the earliest opportunity," they said.

They added the site had written to residents to be "fully transparent", adding it could take up to five years to remove rental properties though a staged process.

People who rent homes on the park have been told they will face eviction as the park looks to remove rentals