A 'neighbour from hell' immigrant has finally moved out of a one bedroom retirement home two years after he was ordered to leave for moving in his wife and daughters.
asserted
he → move → wife
Bangladeshi Shahidul Haque, 59, started living at the Reading flat in July 2024, with his 28-year-old partner and twin three-year-old daughters joining him months later – despite the accommodation being designated for over-55s and intended for single occupancy.
asserted
accommodation → live → occupancy
Southern Housing subsequently tried to force eviction, but Mr Haque insisted he would refuse to leave unless larger accommodation was found.
asserted
accommodation → try → eviction
He argued that forcing his family out would violate his rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
asserted
forcing → argue → Rights
Despite living in the UK since 1997, the 59-year-old also said he could not understand the original agreement he signed because it was not written in his native Sylheti.
uncertain
it → live → Sylheti
But now – more than two years after he moved in – Mr Haque has agreed to move his family out of the flat in David Smith Court as part of an out-of-court agreement.
asserted
Haque → move → agreement
The news has come as a cause for celebration for neighbours after, they say, the family made their lives a 'living hell'.
asserted
lives → come → neighbours
One resident, a 63-year-old man who moved in around a year before the family, said: 'They made my life hell for two years.
asserted
life → move → years
I never got to bed before 1am.
asserted
I → get → 1
Nothing but noise, kids banging about, shouting and screaming.
asserted
kids → bang → noise
From the moment they woke up at 10am to 1am the next morning.
asserted
they → wake → am
Bangladeshi immigrant Shahidul Haque has finally agreed to move out of a retirement home two years after he was ordered to leave
The 59-year-old had moved his wife and twin daughters into a one bedroom, single occupancy flat in Reading's David Smith Court (pictured)
'
asserted
old → agree → Court
Everyone on the wing was going through it.
asserted
Everyone → go → it
I went down once to ask to be quiet and they accused me of threatening them which was a lie.'
asserted
which → go → them
He added: 'Southern Housing didn't seem to do anything.
asserted
Housing → add → anything
I contacted the management here half a dozen times.
asserted
I → contact → management
They didn't handle it quickly.'
asserted
They → handle → it
The court case to have Mr Haque removed is thought to have resulted in the taxpayer forking out thousands on legal costs.
asserted
taxpayer → remove → costs
The migrant previously worked in Bangladeshi restaurants in London but claimed disability benefits for depression and sleep apnea while in the retirement flat, allowing him to cover the £110.70 a week rent.
asserted
him → work → rent
Speaking at Reading County Court today, the legal representative for Mr Haque called for costs to be awarded in his client's favour, arguing that the taxpayer should not have to 'cough up' over the migrant's case.
But the lawyer for Southern Housing, Mr Ben Leb, said the claim was 'nothing more than opportunistic', noting that the charitable organisation had made 'significant concessions' outside of court.
uncertain
organisation → speak → court
Judge Catherine Fisher said that it would 'not be appropriate' for the court to award costs to either party.
asserted
court → say → party
Another resident in the block, Leslie Smith, who has lived there for 12 years, said residents were relieved that the young family had finally left.
asserted
family → live → years
'When they first moved in, the girls were running about the corridors,' she said.
asserted
she → move → corridors
'And you could hear them running about when they came back from nursery.
uncertain
they → hear → nursery
We had some of our neighbours die - there's been people carrying dead bodies out.
asserted
some → have → bodies
Kids shouldn't be seeing that.'
asserted
Kids → see → that
According to a previous court submission from Southern Housing, Mr Haque and his family had become 'a source of excess noise levels and anti-social behaviour' within the retirement block.
uncertain
Haque → accord → block
Mr Haque is pictured at the property with his wife in 2024
Mr Haque had previously been demanding that he and his family be offered somewhere bigger to live before agreeing to move out
The court documents highlighted the family's 'misuse of safety features and generally rambunctious behaviour'.
asserted
documents → picture → features
This included an emergency assistance cord being pulled nine times in a single day in December 2024.
asserted
cord → include → December
At a previous court hearing, Isabel Bertschinger, defending Mr Haque, said: 'He is disabled and has limited English language skills, and that he is in receipt of benefits and therefore has a low income.
'
asserted
he → defend → income
Disabled tenants are more likely to struggle to manage anti-social behaviour by others who live or visit their home.
asserted
who → struggle → home
'To evict him from his home would have a serious and drastic impact on the Defendant's health and wellbeing and therefore on his private life, and to prevent him from living with his wife and children would have a severe and disproportionate impact on his family life.
asserted
prevent → evict → life
Mr Haque previously told the Daily Mail that he would only leave the property if the housing company or West Berkshire Council found him somewhere else to live.
asserted
company → tell → him
He also demanded a larger home, saying that the entire family were forced to share a single bedroom in the small retirement property.
asserted
family → demand → property
The migrant came to the UK in 1997 and became homeless after divorcing his first wife and leaving their four-bedroom home in east London.
asserted
migrant → come → London
He was placed in social housing in Newham before he was transferred to Berkshire.
asserted
he → place → Berkshire
Mr Haque claims he applied for his second wife and his young daughters to come to the UK from Sunamganj, a city in the north of Bangladesh, in October 2024.
uncertain
wife → claim → October
His children were born in Bangladesh but hold British citizenship, while his wife is in the UK on a spousal visa.
asserted
wife → bear → visa
Southern Housing has been approached for comment.
asserted
Housing → approach → comment
The Aporia
