Family facing homelessness due to succession rule

A man says he and his family are facing homelessness after being asked to leave a housing association property following the death of his parents.

Mario and Leonio di Blasi moved into Mario's mother's home in the Wedmore Vale area of Bristol in 2022 to care for her after the sudden death of his father.

But weeks after his mother's death in March 2025, the couple were surprised to be told the tenancy could not be passed to them.

A spokesperson for Brighter Places said the family's case had "been considered carefully and reviewed by managers" but it had to "balance compassion with our legal and regulatory responsibilities to ensure homes are allocated fairly and in line with policy".

Mario, whose parents had lived at the property since 2005, told the BBC he had been signed off from his job at Bristol Waste with stress due to the uncertainty of their housing situation.

"It's just always going through your mind, there's never a break. It's every day, all you think about," he said.

Leoni said the family had "no other choice" than to move into her disabled mother-in-law's home to care for her, and had asked about the terms of the tenancy in the event of her death.

According to Brighter Places' succession policy, there is no legal right for people living in the property to stay after the death of a tenant if the deceased was already a successor to the tenancy.

The housing association does have a discretionary succession process, which it said it follows on a case by case basis.

However, the di Blasi's said they had been told their needs did not meet the criteria.

Mario said: "It's just everything, [all the] memories... it's a home for us as well, it's a safe place really.

"Now we've made it our home, it's just getting taken off us. It's just not a nice feeling at all."

Leoni said the housing association told them to contact Bristol City Council after leaving their property.

"They're supposed to help the community no matter where you've come from, or who you are, or what your background is - you are supposed to help people with housing," she said.

"They haven't helped us, they've just told us to go."

The family of four have started a legal challenge against their eviction, with their next court date set for 18 August.

But they said it has been impossible for them to make plans for the future.

"Are we going to be here this Christmas or is this our last summer here? [It's] little things like, do I do the garden? because I might not be here," Leoni said.

Katrina Eastgate, from the renters union ACORN who have taken up the di Blasi's case, said the family had been through "such a hard time" and she was hoping for a "good outcome".

"We know [Brighter Places] have got to meet their obligations, we know that they've got their own rights and responsibilities and stuff like that," she said.

"All we're asking is for them to see the people who are looking at losing their home.

"A lot of people are dealing with this at a time where they're losing a loved one and it feels like there's a real lack of compassion in some of these processes and procedures that don't acknowledge that someone's just lost a parent, maybe two."

A spokesperson for Brighter Places said they had responded to correspondence from parties acting on behalf of the family, including their MP, a councillor and a third-party advocate, and had reviewed the case a number of times.

"Following these reviews, our decision has remained unchanged," they said, adding that it would not be appropriate to comment further due to the ongoing legal process.

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