A family says it was left devastated after having to leave its long-term home on a Northumberland estate.
Residents at Blenkinsopp Hall and Estate, near Haltwhistle, were served with Section 21 notices requiring them to leave by June 26.
Tenants said nine properties were affected after Farleys Solicitors, acting for the owners, issued the notices in April.
Philip and Tonia Thompson said they received their eviction notice at a "devastating" time and described the owners' lack of communication as "cold".
The Thompsons said the landlord did not agree to an extension and that they remained in the property while possession proceedings continued. Court documents show that a possession order subsequently required them to leave by September 11.
The Thompsons said their representative put the family’s circumstances before the court, including that they had a 16-year-old daughter and a dependent relative with diabetes, while the property they planned to move into was undergoing renovation.
Tonia said the family left the property and was now staying with one of their daughters.
Section 21 “no-fault” evictions were abolished for most private tenancies in England on May 1.
The Joicey family owned the Blenkinsopp Estate for around 150 years before it was sold for around £5 million to Julian and Hayley Silverwood in 2021.
Tonia said: "We received our eviction notice at an incredibly difficult time.
"My 16-year-old daughter was sitting her GCSE examinations, and the very next day she had another exam.
"Having to deal with the uncertainty of potentially losing the home she has grown up in while she was trying to concentrate on her future was extremely upsetting and unfair on her."
She added there has been a "total lack of any personal communication", with "no conversation" to explain what was happening or to discuss their circumstances, and "no reasoning on the timings".
"Instead, we have largely been left waiting for cold letters to arrive on the doormat to find out what happens next."
She said this uncertainty has significantly impacted her mental health, and she struggles to sleep at night.
The Thompsons had lived in the home for many years, raising their children there, while their three grandchildren had played in the surrounding woods.
"It's those little things that mean a lot, and I'll always be grateful for those memories.
"We genuinely believed we would remain forever, and it is incredibly sad to think that what we considered our forever family home is ending so cruelly this way with no explanation.
"There are also other households on the estate experiencing a similar situation, which is why I feel this is about more than just our individual circumstances," Tonia added.
Hexham MP Joe Morris said: "I can only sympathise with what residents of Blenkinsopp estate are experiencing.
"I am hugely disappointed in the manner in which the situation is being conducted."
He said he has already raised the issue in Parliament and will continue raising the case, including writing again to the estate owners to outline his concerns and the impact on residents.
Rachel Mathieson, county councillor for Haltwhistle, described the experience as “heart-breaking” and said families felt “like criminals” during the possession process.
"Ultimately, the new law is there to protect renters from precisely this kind of injustice, but the way the matter has been handled in the case of the Blenkinsopp Estate has totally lacked engagement with the community."
She said families had been “uprooted” and “felt violated” by the eviction process, but stressed that the community remained strongly supportive of one another despite the ordeal.
Farleys Solicitors and the Silverwoods were contacted for comment.
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