A petition launched in Ripon to save four young children and their parents from eviction has now had 23,157 signatures as of 8pm Thursday 18 June. The number appears to be rising every hour.
Linsey Reeves and her husband were served a no fault eviction notice just days before they were officially ended by law.
Section 21 Evictions, which was where a landlord did not have to provide a reason for their actions, were outlawed under the new Renters’ Rights Act from May 1st 2026.
Their 3 bed flat is managed by Holy Trinity Properties Trust, which funds the religious work of the Holy Trinity Church opposite the flat. It’s an independent organisation and it’s not run by church officers.
The trust has said it was acting on the advice of the letting agents, Linley and Simpson in Ripon.
Linsey Reeves said she doesn’t know why her family were being evicted, but they had raised various issues with the maintenance of the Victorian property, including repeatedly asking for windows to be repaired.
The Property Ombudsman had also found in the family’s favour over an issue with the letting agency in May 2025.
The family have been told to leave by the 1st July, when their notice period ends. But as there is nowhere to go, housing officers at the council have said they should stay put and let the trust take legal action to get a court order to evict them .
John Richmond, a Freeman of the City, former mayor and recipient of the British Empire Medal for services to the community in the Queen’s 2021 New Year’s Honours, is behind the petition.
He hopes it will lead to pressure on the church (which is not directly involved) and the trust to think again. However there is no sign of them changing their mind at the moment.
He said: “I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard that a charity called Holy Trinity Properties Trust, whose activities are listed as ’furthering the religious and other charitable work of Holy Trinity Church’ is going to make a family of six with four children, the oldest of whom is autistic, homeless with a so-called ‘no fault’ eviction notice.
“As it was clearly an urgent matter requiring swift action, I raised it at the annual parish meeting held in Ripon Town Hall on the evening of May 20th as I hoped that newly-elected mayor Andrew Williams and fellow councillors could help this family in their hour of need.”
Cllr Williams has been trying to set up a meeting with the trust chair but so far has failed.
John Richmond continued: “I implore worshippers to do all they can to ensure that Holy Trinity, with its so far exemplary track record of charitable giving and help for the oppressed, does not become tarnished by this unwarranted eviction of a young family who currently face the impossible task of finding a home new.”
Linsey Reeves told YorkMix Radio: “We’re looking on the private rental market, and also for emergency temporary accommodation through the council.
“Obviously, there’s been an exodus of landlords, so there’s just nothing available, and rents are sky high. On the council side, they’ve put us on a waiting list for a homeless hostel, because there isn’t anywhere for us to go.
“I was born in Ripon. I was christened at Holy Trinity Church, my parents and family live here. Our children are at the local school, they’re regularly in the church just over the road for assemblies and things like that, so it’s a real shock that, given our connection and the Christian values that the trustees, we imagined, would uphold, that this is the situation we find ourselves in.
You can read more about this story at this link to the petition.
YorkMix Radio has offered Robert Thew, chair of Holy Trinity Properties Trust, which owns the apartment block, a chance to put their side of the story but he didn’t want to be interviewed.
Last week he texted a short statement: “Holy Trinity Properties Trust is a small charitable trust which administers four adjoining flats in Ripon. It aims to let these at more affordable rates and it’s trustees are unpaid volunteers.
“In recent years an extensive programme of refurbishment of the flat has been undertaken and this work is ongoing.”
The family agree that some work has been done but many issues remain.
Robert Thew’s statement continued: “We are aware that there has been an amount of media interest in recent weeks but in order to respect the privacy of all our tenants we believe it would be unethical to comment any further or to provide information on individual tenancies”
Linley and Simpson does not comment on individual tenancies.
