Queen evicts couple over £32 bill, revealing Royal Household is exempt from evictions ban

Landlords might feel slightly peeved to discover that the Queen is exempt from the current eviction ban.

As a landlord, her Majesty rents out a number of Royal Household properties, but unlike every other landlord in the UK who’s up against the evictions ban until next year, she’s recently given notice to a young couple renting one of her homes in Royal Mews, Hampton Court (pictured), who have until Christmas to move out.

Christopher Brown and Daisy Bow Du Toit were sent a letter telling them to leave their flat for using a communal plug socket to charge their electric car.

They blame their royal landlady for their treatment, insisting that they had apologised for any offence caused and had offered to pay the £32 electricity bill and any fine.

Royal Mews

Mr Brown, a mechanical design engineer, says that while he usually charges the car at his workplace, during lockdown he was sometimes forced to charge it in a utility room on the Royal Mews site.

He adds that he’s been trying to get the support of neighbours and MPs, but that the situation had been exacerbated by the fact that Royal Household tenancies aren’t covered by legislation that protects tenants from being evicted.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson declined to elaborate but explains: “Tenancy agreements are terminated very rarely, and only in exceptional circumstances.”

LandlordZONE has contacted the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for comment, which appears to be as unaware of the exemption as the couple. A spokesperson said they would ‘look into it’.

Read more about the evictions ban.

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