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.
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.
Southern Housing subsequently tried to force eviction, but Mr Haque insisted he would refuse to leave unless larger accommodation was found.
He argued that forcing his family out would violate his rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human 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.
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.
The news has come as a cause for celebration for neighbours after, they say, the family made their lives a ‘living hell’.
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. It was horrendous.
‘I never got to bed before 1am. Nothing but noise, kids banging about, shouting and screaming. From the moment they woke up at 10am to 1am the next morning.
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)
‘Everyone on the wing was going through it. I went down once to ask to be quiet and they accused me of threatening them which was a lie.’
He added: ‘Southern Housing didn’t seem to do anything. I contacted the management here half a dozen times. They didn’t handle it quickly.’
The court case to have Mr Haque removed is thought to have resulted in the taxpayer forking out thousands on legal 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.
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.
Judge Catherine Fisher said that it would ‘not be appropriate’ for the court to award costs to either 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.
‘When they first moved in, the girls were running about the corridors,’ she said. ‘And you could hear them running about when they came back from nursery.
‘It wasn’t suitable for them at all. We had some of our neighbours die – there’s been people carrying dead bodies out. Kids shouldn’t be seeing 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.
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’.
This included an emergency assistance cord being pulled nine times in a single day in December 2024.
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.
‘Disabled tenants are more likely to struggle to manage anti-social behaviour by others who live or visit their 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.’
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.
He also demanded a larger home, saying that the entire family were forced to share a single bedroom in the small retirement 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.
He was placed in social housing in Newham before he was transferred to 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.
His children were born in Bangladesh but hold British citizenship, while his wife is in the UK on a spousal visa.
Southern Housing has been approached for comment.
