Grandma Faces Eviction After Spending £30K on Garden Makeover in Her Council House

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A grandma is worried about being evicted from her council home after investing £30k into a garden renovation without getting proper approval.

Renata Mahmoud, 48, has lived in the three-bed council property in Moulsecoomb, East Sussex for 19 years and raised her three children there.

The partly detached house features a spacious rear garden, though it had turned wild and untended. After an accident where one of her kids got hurt while playing out there, she resolved to revamp the area.

Ms Mahmoud had been saving for some time when construction started in 2023 to transform the sloped area into a three-level terrace.

She shared with MailOnline, "The previous state of the garden was terrible; nothing could be done about it, as not even a gardener would take it on. To improve it, leveling was essential, so I approached the council numerous times over the years, pleading for their assistance in making it flat."

I asked them, telling 'I don’t want you to make it pretty, I simply want your assistance to begin, to set the baseline, I’m not looking for you to create the design for me'.

They provided me with nothing for it. Their reply was: "No, I'm sorry but the council has no funds available; it's the tenants' duty." This was their final statement.

'I made a lovely garden and they’ve ordered me to take it down. It’s very depressing as I don't know if I can afford to, we could sleep on the streets because of this.'

Ms Mahmoud mentioned that the project has set her back by £30,000, covering expenses like trimming trees, leveling the ground, and installing a patio.

She went on: 'My neighbour was quite pleased; he didn’t want all those weeds creeping into his garden from mine. Folks were jesting, "At last, the eccentric is taking action!"'

I wasn’t aware that I needed to apply for planning permission, and I genuinely regret this oversight. However, simply restoring everything as it originally was isn’t feasible. The area was perilous; incredibly steep with various hazards such as loose bricks, debris, metal scraps, along with foxes and snakes roaming around.

'They should’ve been happy that one of their council tenants was trying to improve their property. This house is my precious, you know, and I will do anything to do something nice. You know, my heart’s there. My home.

'We will sleep on the streets if we’re evicted.'

His neighbor Michael Bundock, aged 53, stated he was unable to comprehend the council's stance.

He stated: "I've maintained an ongoing conversation with her, and I have been assisting her."

Given that her primary language is Polish, she sometimes finds it challenging to fully grasp what others are saying.

She has resided there for 19 years, and we have been here for 20 years, thus we know her quite well; she has never caused any trouble whatsoever.

It used to be in a neglected state; overgrown with brambles, weeds, scattered bricks, and shards of glass — all were equally problematic. She sought assistance multiple times as she raised young children, yet no actions were taken to address her situation.

I definitely prefer enjoying a lovely garden instead of having a chaotic mess beside my place.

Even though she has concerns, Ms Mahmoud still needs to spend thousands of dollars restoring the garden to its initial condition.

Mr Bundock went on to say: 'Doesn’t that seem rather drastic?'

'She's attempted to work with them and has even gone to mediation, yet they remain completely inflexible.'

It would cost thousands; it's typically like this. I feel bad for her.

'I mean how can you evict someone for making a nice garden? She’s been told for years "tidy up your garden, tidy up your garden", then she does the gardens and they say, "we’ll evict you if you don’t want to put it back."

'It doesn’t make sense; why be jealous of someone else’s kingdom?'

A representative from Brighton and Hove City Council stated: "The issue has been escalated to the court, and we believe the tenant is not adhering to their rental contract."

'The act of eviction remains a final option. At present, there are no intentions to move forward with an eviction process.'

We simply want to reach a solution for the problems caused by the property.

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