A retired carpenter says he is being evicted from his stunning cottage on an historic estate after 22 years – while new tenants are being offered similar properties for hundreds of pounds more in rent.
Tim Harman, 68, claims to have spent £25,000 of his own money over two decades improving the two-bedroom semi where he thought he would be able to live for the rest of his life.
But now he is battling with its aristocratic owners who insist they need his property back to house farm workers – and need him out.
Mr Harman moved into the flint cottage with magnificent rural views in the tiny East Sussex village of Tarring Neville in March 2002, paying just £550-a-month.
Over the years his rent has only climbed to £920 per month but that is still substantially lower than market rates for similar properties in the area – around the historic county town of Lewes.
Tim Harman, 68, claims to have spent £25,000 of his own money over two decades improving the two-bedroom semi where he thought he would be able to live for the rest of his life. Pictured: Mr Harman outside his home
Mr Harman (pictured with his dog paddy) moved into the flint cottage with magnificent rural views in the tiny East Sussex village of Tarring Neville in March 2002, paying just £550-a-month
Mr Harman says he was given just eight weeks of notice in May to leave the Victorian cottage and has since been trying to fight the eviction.
If he cannot reach an agreement he faces a possible court appearance which could ratify his eviction.
The property at the centre of the dispute is part of the sprawling Glynde Estate, which is owned by Francis Anthony Brand, the sixth Viscount Hampden.
Lord Hampden, based at Elizabethan stately home Glynde Place, home of the famous Glydnebourne opera and base of the Love Supreme festival, owns the Estate which lets properties in some of Sussex’s most scenic villages.
Mr Harman accuses the Estate of treating him ‘abysmally’ and believes that his relatively low rent is the reason he has been singled out.
The carpenter, who is not married and has no children, told MailOnline: ‘This has been my home for more than two decades and when I first moved in it was little more than a barren husk.
‘I’ve put in a whole new bathroom that I paid for and fitted personally, I’ve put in new doors, re-panelled some of the walls, changed the skirting boards, and re-landscaped the back garden.
The Estate spokesperson said the farm worker would likely have the cottage as part of their employment at a subsidised rental rate
Mr Harman is seen here in the garden of his Victorian cottage and has since been trying to fight the eviction
‘I also installed a whole new kitchen myself – although in fairness the Estate paid for that.
‘But I’ve put a lot of love and work into the cottage and improved it no end.
‘I pay an affordable rent and it does work out cheaper than some neighbours who are paying over £1300-a-month for similar sized properties – but I’ve been a model tenant who has always paid on time and more than looked after the place.
‘At my age, I don’t want to have to leave and find somewhere else.
‘There’s been no mediation. They haven’t even approached me to see if I’d be willing to pay more rent. I’ve been offered nowhere else to live.
‘They don’t seem to care if I’m made homeless. It’s disgusting.’
Mr Harman once ran his own carpentry firm which employed 50 people but he was made bankrupt during the 1992 recession and subsequently worked as self employed carpenter.
He rented two previous homes from the Estate when it was in the hands of the Fifth Viscount Hampden, Anthony David Brand, who died in 2008, before moving into his current property.
Mr Harman said: ‘The previous Lord Hampden offered me this cottage because he knew I was keen on it.
Mr Harman said that he has ‘put in a whole new bathroom that I paid for and fitted personally, I’ve put in new doors’
‘He offered me a decent rental agreement and to repay the favour I renovated the property myself paying for most of the work. But I’ve not had the best of relationships since he died.’
Mr Harman said he was served with a Section 21 notice – which in the past has allowed landlords to evict tenants at any point after the end of their fixed-term tenancy without giving a reason.
But the Government is currently introducing the Renter’s Rights bill which would prevent tenants from being evicted unnecessarily.
Mr Harman said he hopes the new bill buys him more time before his case ends up before Brighton County Court.
He added: ‘I was supposed to have been out of the cottage by July 31 but I’m still here and don’t want to go anywhere. What they’re doing is outrageous.’
The current Lord Hampden, 53, lives with his wife Caroline and children in Glynde Place, a magnificent manor house built in 1569.
The family has owned all of Tarring Neville and the neighbouring village of Glynde for the last 500-years.
Tucked away entirely in the South Downs National Park, the chocolate box villages are among the prettiest in Southern England.
In a statement, the Estate said they were sympathetic to Mr Harman’s plight.
The property at the centre of the dispute is part of the sprawling Glynde Estate
They explained: ‘There are big changes in the way the Estate is being structured and that has created new jobs.
‘Traditionally, cottages on the estate have been reserved for workers.
‘Recently we have taken back farms and landholdings that will now be managed by estate.
‘The plan is to have a farm worker living on or near the land and this cottage is ideal for that.
‘There is a farmhouse directly opposite the property which is currently vacant but it is a six-bedroom house and so not at all appropriate for the role.
‘We are really sympathetic toward Mr Harman but this is a standard legal notice.
‘We realise this is really displacing for the tenant but there is no malice.’
The Estate spokesperson said the farm worker would likely have the cottage as part of their employment at a subsidised rental rate.
They had no plans to put the cottage on the open market to let and say they are open to working with Mr Harman to provide him with alternative accommodation.
Were the 1850s cottage placed on the open market, Will Wycherley of estate agents Charles Whycherly in Lewes said rent would likely cost between £1300 and £1400-a-month.
He said: ‘I think a property of that size in that area you’d easily let for just shy of £1500 a month. I’d say at least £1300 or £1400 easy.’
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