Landlord left with £55,000 unpaid rent bill and £22,000 repair costs after three-year eviction battle
A landlord has told how her home was ‘trashed’ during a three year fight to evict a tenant
Collette McFarlane claimed her tenant trashed her house after refusing to leave or pay £55,000 worth of rent for three years - and it cost her thousands to get her out.
She has revealed how she was left with a £55,000 unpaid rent bill and a home she estimates will cost £22,000 to repair after spending three years trying to evict a tenant.
The 62-year-old landlord finally regained possession of her two-bedroom property in Barnet, north London, in September 2026, after a lengthy legal battle involving three court orders and £4,500 in legal fees.
The business owner, who works in human resources and lives in Hillingdon, said the experience had left her emotionally exhausted, angry and worried about the financial consequences.
Collette had originally lived in the two bedroom property with her son, but started renting it out for £1,600 a month when she moved in Hillington.
The tenant initially paid the rent on time, but payments stopped in February 2023. Collette said she tried to help when the tenant explained she was short of money while changing jobs, even agreeing to a repayment plan.
However, the payments stopped again, and Collette eventually began eviction proceedings in October 2024.
She first served a Section 21 notice, which allows landlords to seek possession without relying on tenant wrongdoing, before turning to a Section 8 notice because of the unpaid rent.
By then, the arrears had reached £16,600. Despite giving the tenant an additional 28 days to leave, Collette was forced to pursue a possession order through the courts.
The process took more than a year. Bailiffs were due to remove the tenant in February 2026, but the eviction was delayed after the tenant successfully applied for an extra 28 days.
Barnet County Court ordered the tenant to give up the property in March, but Collette said she was told the tenant had nowhere else to go and would not leave.
A further bailiff appointment took months to arrange. The tenant eventually left voluntarily in September, owing £55,000 in rent, according to Collette.
When she returned to the house, she said she was horrified by its condition. The property was filled with clutter, mould covered the bathroom, holes had appeared in two ceilings and doors were hanging off their hinges.
Collette estimates the repairs will cost £22,000.
“I’m relieved she has gone but so angry and exasperated that it has taken so long,” she said. “How is it that I seem to have no rights at all?”
She said she had been proud of the home, having invested considerable time and effort into renovating it when money was tight.
The grandmother of two added that the loss of rental income had created a major financial worry, despite owning the property outright without a mortgage.
Barnet County Court has ordered the former tenant to repay the £55,000 in arrears. Collette said she would now have to establish where the woman was living to try to recover the money.
The landlord believes the tenant, a single mother, lost her job and was subsequently unable to pay the rent.
Reflecting on the ordeal, Collette said she believed a faster court process could have prevented the debt from growing so substantially.
“My hands were completely tied,” she said.
She added: “This has been horrible; sometimes I have felt right on the edge.”