Paul Harforth v Rose Island Properties

Facts

The Respondent, Rose Island Properties Limited, obtained an order for possession of a residential property against the Appellant, Paul Harforth, at trial in the Southend County Court on 21 January 2026, based on statutory rent-arrears grounds, arrears then said to exceed £73,000. The Appellant had sought to resist possession by counterclaim and a defence of equitable set-off concerning the property's condition, valued at around £67,000 but unsupported by expert evidence. At a further hearing on 12 March 2026, HHJ Duddridge refused him any further opportunity to advance those arguments and refused to set aside or stay the possession order. The Appellant appealed to the High Court on 24 March 2026. Facing imminent eviction, Eady J imposed an interim stay of enforcement on 27 March 2026, envisaging an early return-date hearing on its continuation. That hearing was repeatedly adjourned, the Appellant explaining each time that oral hearings caused him difficulty, linked to a panic attack he said had caused his absence from the original trial. Cotter J's order of 22 April 2026 directed paper determination of the stay and, potentially, the appeal. Following a Respondent application, Turner J's order of 26 June 2026 varied that direction, fixing a 30-minute oral hearing on the stay, prompting the Appellant's 7 July 2026 application to set it aside. The matter came before Fordham J on 31 July 2026, the Appellant again absent.