Hold on… they owned the land?!!??!??? I didn’t realise that bit. Why were they evicted, cuz home owners?

It was a planning consent issue. Tey owned the land. They bought it from the council, who had been using it without planning consent as a scrapyard. Because of this, it was classed as a greenbelt site, even though it was a literal scrapyard. Racists in Basildon just didn't want them to live there.

You know the answer

As far as I can remember they changed the law for this, or an eviction after this one.