destat

Verb

destat (third-person singular simple present destats, present participle destatting, simple past and past participle destatted)

1. (informal, rare) To encourage or harass statutory tenants into leaving (a building) so that it can be rented under less favourable terms.
   • As the old tenants left, more tenants of the same kind were installed, until the whole house was free from statutory control — or 'destatted'.1963, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 294, page 287
   • Few but Mr. Ben Parkin, Member of Parliament for North Paddington, paid much attention to the "destatting" racket until Miss Keeler and her friends drew aside the curtain on so many facets of our national life.1964, Elspeth Huxley, Back Street New Worlds: A Look at Immigrants in Britain, page 51