A young couple with a one-year-old baby girl claim they will be left 'homeless' after being issued an eviction notice over their dogs. Connor Sullivan, 18, first moved into the Sparkhill property in March and says Everbright Housing had 'no problem' with him having pets at the time - although the housing company denies this.
He lives with his partner Jordanna, also 18, daughter Lexi and their pet dogs. The family say they received the eviction notice three weeks after the fire service attended the property when Jordanna became trapped in the bathroom due to a faulty door lock.
It was reported to Everbright that 14 dogs were living in the property, which the company deemed a 'safety hazard'. Connor says that they only have four dogs - but that they were looking after six others for a friend at the time of the call out.
The family were given a final deadline to leave the property by August 18, but remained there eight days later as they said 'we have nowhere to go'. Speaking to Birmingham Live, Connor said: "This will make us homeless.
"It's really playing on my mental health, which I already struggle with. I'm worried about my daughter, of course she comes first."
He added: "Two weeks ago, we had the fire service out, and they complained about the dogs in the property. Next thing, we're being told we have to be out by a certain date.
"I've been here since March and we told the company before we moved in that we had dogs and they said it's no problem. Then the property must have changed hands - we had a different person dealing with us - so we think the rules must have changed then.
"They said it's because of the dogs that we have to leave. I've got two Staffs and my partner has two husky puppies.
"I don't know what we'll do. I'm ringing round everywhere trying to find somewhere for us to stay. We haven't been offered any other housing - we've got no where to go."
Furqan Javaid, a support worker for Everbright Housing, said: "This is a HMO property so, by the guidelines, tenants are not allowed to keep dogs. It was not only one or two dogs, but 14 dogs reported by the fire department
"They called us to say the dogs were a safety hazard in the property. We served an eviction notice to move out, but they requested an extension and we said no problem.
"We're not forcing them to be homeless. The tenant broke the rules and we gave them official notice.
"We extended the deadline but we have an inspection due by the fire department soon." He added: "If they had removed the dogs and cleaned the property then yes, we would have allowed them stay."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
