Activists who have occupied a house on the Sweets Way estate for the past five months will go to court next week to fight eviction.

Campaign group Sweets Way Resists has occupied the house, in Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone, since March in protest at the redevelopment of the former army estate, which saw tenants evicted in the spring by owners Annington Homes.

The Ministry of Defence has now applied for a possession order, and a hearing will take place at Barnet County Court on Thursday, August 27.

Last week, campaigners blocked bailiffs from evicting the last family living on the estate by barricading their home.

In a statement, the Sweets Way Resists campaign said: “76 Oakleigh Road North is the heart of the Sweets Way Resists campaign, where ordinary people are trying to save the future of community and the neighbourhood.

“It is also a great refuge for all affected by Barnet council, Annington and the MoD. A place where more and more people come to us for help, and feel reassured that there are selfless people who are willing to help.”

The group added: “We will defend this place of great importance for so many because we are not the ones in the wrong here. Please stand with us.

“The land which is sponsored by you is being given away for private profit. We are here to stop this madness.”

A spokesman for the MoD said: “We have a hearing at the court on August 27, at which we hope to be granted a court order to have possession of 76 Oakleigh Road.

“We leased it to use for service personnel. The people in there are not service personnel, so clearly they have no right to be there.”

The estate was leased to the Notting Hill Housing Trust, which used it to provide temporary accommodation on behalf of Barnet council, while Annington sought planning permission to redevelop the site.

The estate will be bulldozed to make way for 288 new homes, including 59 affordable properties.

Last week, a spokesman for Barnet Homes, which deals with the authority’s social housing stock, said: “Notting Hill Housing Trust let the properties to homeless households nominated by the council on a temporary basis pending planning permission to avoid wasting a valuable resource when there is huge pressure on housing in Barnet.

“Barnet Homes has worked with all the Sweets Way households who presented as homeless to find them suitable alternative accommodation following eviction notices issued by Notting Hill Housing Trust in February this year.

“Barnet, along with all other boroughs, is experiencing high demand for all types of housing and the demand for affordable homes in Barnet is much greater than the number of properties available.”

Lucy Glynn, director of home options at Notting Hill Housing, said: “The land at Sweets Way is privately owned and rather than have it lying empty for five years, the owner agreed to lease the houses to us on a short-term basis to ease the pressure on housing in the area.

“Every resident who signed a lease was told this would be a temporary arrangement and that they would be given notice when the land was being handed back to the owner. We, along with the owner and the council, have been communicating with residents for many months about the lease coming to an end.”