A couple who modernised their home in a naturist village can stay in their home after winning a court battle against their estate landlord.
The BBC reports that the couple, John and Maureen Pearson, have owned a chalet at the Spielplatz naturist village in Hertfordshire since buying it for £36,000 in 1992 and have since then spent an estimated £100,000 on improvements.
The site's landlord, Spielplatz Ltd, wanted to evict them for altering the character of the building but the Court of Appeal has now ruled that the Housing Act 1988 protects them from eviction.
The appeal hearing heard that the couple’s work resulted in "some unfriendly correspondence" with Spielplatz Ltd, which eventually sought to evict the couple claiming they were "changing an essentially wooden dwelling into a larger and more permanent brick/block structure".
In April 2014, the company lost a possession action at Luton County Court and it was challenging that ruling at the Court of Appeal.
The BBC report says that Judge Sir Colin Rimer decided the couple's chalet had become "part of the land" as it was too big and heavy to move, other than in pieces, and they had the protection of an assured tenancy.
Spielplatz - named after the German word for playground - was found in the 1920s and has 64 plots covering 12 acres.
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