Family forced to give neighbours their £600k HOME after losing battle over extension
A FAMILY is being forced to hand their £600,000 home over to the neighbours after losing a legal battle over an extension which went three inches into their garden.
Herman and Yvette Constantine will be homeless within weeks after losing the home they have lived in for 31 years.
Mr Constantine, 66, and his wife, 57, have spent eight years disputing the extension by the Alis, who they accuse of knocking down their fence to encroach three inches into their garden while they were on holiday in 2009.
The lengthy legal battle saw legal costs spiral to £132,544, and after years of non-payment a judge has ordered the couple to hand over the keys to their seven bedroom family home in East Ham, East London, to the Alis to sell.
A source said: “They will lose the house they had for 31 years and be homeless after Christmas.
“All because they objected about a neighbours’ fence.
Stephen Allinson gives law lesson on Charging Orders
The Constantines launched a legal case against the Alis that year and both sides discussed the possibility of compensation, with a deal agreed in principle but never formalised.
Eventually, in 2012 the case was heard by the Mayor’s and City of London County Court in 2016, with a judge visiting their homes to conduct an inspection.
In May, the Constantines’ appeal was dismissed after the judge ruled the Alis’ extension did not represent a trespass on to their property, and they were ordered to pay legal costs totalling £132,544.
Earlier this month, a judge issued a final ruling due to non-payment, meaning neighbour Sardar Ali, 62, his wife Haliman and their son Tajammul, 36, have the right to sell the seven-bedroom property for at least £500,000.
'If you lose you pay the other sides’ costs. That’s how it works.'
In accordance with the Charging Order Act 1979, a court can order a homeowner to sell their property in order to cover the cost of a debt.
Whatever is left over from the sale after the debt is settled will be returned to the Constantines, who have three adult children.
Mark Woloshak, of lawyers Slater and Gordon, said: “Border disputes can be horrendously expensive.
“If you lose you pay the other sides’ costs. That’s how it works.”