Evicting these families is ‘brutal’

The plight of the residents has been taken on by Labour city councillor Dave Wilson who says it is outrageous the families face being turfed out of their homes. “It’s a brutal way to carry on and has heaped enormous stress on these tenants,” he said.

“I don’t care what the legal notice is - this is people’s lives we are talking about and they can’t just be kicked out. “They have very few options, if any, if they lose their homes and the MOD needs to think again.

“We will be pressing the department to give them more time and look at ways as a council that we can keep the families in these homes, where they have now been settled for two years.

“But my fear is that Annington has another agenda for these old homes, which involves the capital value of the site.”

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield plans to raise the tenants’ situation with the Government.

“I am hugely concerned about such a large number of families being left with their housing futures uncertain, “she said.

“I will be raising this directly with the

Minister responsible and hoping that the Ministry of Defence will take their duty of care towards these tenants very seriously.

“I am very hopeful that Canterbury City Council can be proactive in housing families well before anyone is at the point of ending up homeless. “With such huge sums of money being spent by our local council leaders in recent years on speculative commercial investments, now more than ever the public need sensible investment in sustainable and solid council home purchases and builds.”