A TENANT has breathed a sigh of relief after an eviction order was scrapped.

Beverly Bishop feared being made homeless with her teenage daughter after a dispute with her landlord and the Wilkinson’s Estate Agents in Elm Grove in Brighton in April.

She turned to the Acorn tenant’s union, which campaigned and protested outside the offices.

She said she had raised concerns about damp in her property. Then she said a contract she had signed for a 12 month extension to her tenancy was being withheld and negotiations hit a deadlock.

Ms Bishop, a volunteer, feared she would be out on the street as she did not have enough money for a new deposit or to pay to move her things.

She said she had raised a complaint about damp at the property, which was affecting the health of her daughter.

But last week, she reported that the problem had been resolved after talks with the landlord and estate agents.

She said: “I’ve got a new contract, it is definitely a victory, but I just feel relieved.

“It’s over, which means I’ve got a bit of security to save up some money for a rent deposit and to move. We will be able to stay.

“Our landlord has agreed that environmental health officers will come round to look at the damp, and they will make recommendations.

“I’m really happy. Acorn members have been amazing and have really supported me day in, day out.

“They have protested outside the shop, and stood with me so I wasn’t on my own.

“We can breathe a sigh of relief and put it all behind us now.”

In a statement, the landlord, who did not wish to be named, said an eviction notice was withdrawn in May, and said £1,300 of work has been done to address the damp issue.

He denied offering a 12-month agreement, and said he told Ms Bishop that a six-month contact would not be renewed in August.

But because he did not want to cause the family undue distress, he has agreed to extend the contract.

He said he “resents” claims made by the Acorn tenants’ union.

A tenancy agreement is now in place until February next year, and the landlord said he has offered the extended time to allow Ms Bishop to find somewhere else to live.

He said: “I feel that both I and Wilkinsons have done everything that the tenant has ever asked.”