Jama Ahmed Farrah v Sheffield City Council

Facts

Mr Jama Ahmed Farrah, aged 104 at the time of the appeal, was the landlord of a number of properties in Sheffield. On 6 March 2024 he pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, two offences under section 1(3A) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, committed between 5 and 21 December 2022 at 33 Brunswick Street, Sheffield, and involving his tenants. On 9 August 2024 Sheffield City Council served notice of its intention to apply for a banning order under section 15 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016; Mr Farrah made representations, and the City Council applied to the First-tier Tribunal. At the hearing Mr Farrah accepted that he could no longer manage his properties and proposed that his adult children do so, a suggestion the FTT did not find satisfactory. By its decision dated 10 September 2025 the FTT imposed a five-year banning order, but provided that it would take effect only on termination of the current tenancies, each of which was to be brought to an end on the first possible date, and required the appointment of approved managing agents and no face-to-face contact with tenants. The Deputy Chamber President granted permission to appeal, not on the ground argued by Mr Farrah, but on the question whether the FTT could order the termination of the tenancies of 13 tenants in four properties. The City Council did not participate in the appeal.