Possession Claim When Guests Outstayed their Welcome

Our client, who owned a family home jointly with his brother, was left living alongside two occupiers who had been informally allowed to move in and had become aggressive towards him. We obtained a possession order that returned the property to his sole peaceful use, together with a costs order against the occupiers.

Summary

Our client co-owned an inherited family home with his brother. His brother had informally let a friend move in on a temporary basis, and that friend later brought a second person into the property. Both occupiers became threatening towards our client, to the point he was locking himself in his bedroom at night. We ran a possession claim to remove them and secured a possession order with costs.

Context

Two brothers inherited the property in equal shares from their late mother. Both lived there. Around nine years before the claim, one brother allowed a friend to move in on what was said to be a short-term basis. Over time she brought in a second occupier without our client's agreement. What began as an informal favour deteriorated into shouting, unfounded accusations and behaviour that made our client feel unsafe in his own home.

Challenge

The occupiers each argued they had permission to stay and claimed they had a tenancy agreement, attempting to assert that they were tenants with the protections that status would bring. One pointed to a signed document from the brother and their "own bedroom" as proof of a tenancy. However, no rent or other funds were ever paid to our client, and any arrangement that existed had been made solely with the other co-owner. The complication was that all of the alleged permission had come from one co-owner only.

Solution

We served a formal notice to quit, giving the occupiers a month to leave. When they refused, we issued possession proceedings and, importantly, joined the brother as a co-defendant so the court could deal with the whole arrangement in one hearing. We built the case around the principle that a licence granted by only one of two joint owners does not bind the other and can be ended by the non-consenting owner alone. We also addressed the statutory eviction rules head-on, showing that the shared living arrangement placed the occupation outside the protections the occupiers sought to rely on.

Impact

The court accepted that none of the defences raised, including the claim of a tenancy, provided any real answer to the possession claim. A possession order was made against both occupiers, and they were ordered to pay our client's costs. The possession order was not made against the brother, who remained a joint owner of the property.

How Taylor Rose can help

This case reflects the strengths of Taylor Rose's property litigation team, who regularly help clients recover possession of homes and investment properties, resolve co-ownership and inheritance disputes and act quickly where personal safety or property value is at risk. If you are facing a similar situation, our team can advise on next steps and take swift action to protect your position.