The home from hell: Neighbour’s fury at abandoned home which has become ‘health hazard’
Neighbours living next a “health hazard” house that has been left in a state of disrepair for four years have slammed the council for not taking action against its owner.
The house in Haydons Road, Wimbledon, has piles of rubbish left outside the front garden with debris regularly falling onto the pavement, decaying timber with exposed nails at eye level, and is attracting vermin.
A neighbour who did not want to be named said he and other neighbours on the street had been complaining to the council for four years about he property but they did not agree it was a hazard and have “dragged their heels” to find a solution.
The neighbour said: It makes a mockery of planning laws. You have someone who does whatever they want and the council doesn’t care. It’s negligence.
“It’s a shame, we have a very nice neighbourhood. Now other neighbours are leaving rubbish out. The whole street is starting to deteriorate.
“It makes me feel very disappointed. It feels like the council doesn’t care about us but they’re very quick to issue fines. Anything that brings revenue they’re on top of it.”
Neighbours on the street have said the measures taken have been “inadequate”, ranging from the mere placement of a “silly red safety tape” to a simple “tidying up” of the fallen materials.
South London Press has seen an email between a neighbour and a council officer who admits the “property has been abandoned for a considerable period of time and has been of concern for some time”.
The officer goes on to say the dangerous structure legislation is “not very appropriate for dealing with this issue”.
Neighbours have also said they are angered at the council’s inaction given the housing crisis the borough and wider capital is facing. The property appears to have been left empty for four years.
The latest figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities figures show 69 households in Merton were estimated to be homeless. This was up from 52 the year before.
Merton council’s figures show that in February of this year there were 333 people in temporary accommodation waiting to be housed.
The anonymous neighbour added: “The house started getting boarded up in 2019. All you hear about is the housing crisis then someone doesn’t give a damn. There are clear powers for the council to give the owner notice to do something.”
A Merton council spokesman said: “The council has recently approved some funding to support the owners of empty homes to make renovations to their homes, to enable them to let them out to those on the council’s waiting list.”
“Although we cannot oblige any homeowner to do this, this is another route we will endeavour to explore.”
The owner of the property has been contacted for comment.
Pictured top: The abandoned house in Haydons Road, Wimbledon (Picture: Anonymous handout)
