A landlord has been ordered to repair an abandoned, 'eyesore home' which neighbours claim is blighting their street. The once-grand, five-bedroom detached home has fallen into massive disrepair since being bought by a local landlord nearly three years ago.
Residents have filed multiple complaints about the "dilapidated" property which sits on a wide avenue in Southend, Essex, where detached homes fetch more than £550,000. Walls missing from the property have allowed vandals to enter and cover the interior with graffiti while rats and wildlife run amok on the site, they say.
Rubble and construction materials have been left in the overgrown front garden leaving it looking "abandoned and derelict". Southend Council has spent three years trying to contact the property owner - who is named Ali Hussain - to undertake repairs.
It has now been forced to threaten legal action to secure the much-needed work. The landlord has been served with a Section 125 which gives him or her six months to carry out the repairs.
The landlord has been given until May 24, 2023, to repair the roof and guttering, rebuild the walls, replace the doors and windows, paint the exterior, restore the overgrown lawn, borders and driveway and remove the building materials littering the site.
Southend City Cllr Daniel Cowan is concerned the property is now a risk to other neighbouring properties as well as passers-by. He said: "This once grand family home has been left to rot attracting animals and graffiti.
"Over the last few years, there have been multiple attempts to contact the owner who hasn't engaged with the council in any way whatsoever. We prefer to have an open dialogue with people with a Section 125 notice as a last resort, which we have been forced to use. For many residents this has come a lot later than they would have hoped."
The house was sold in 2020 in a "liveable condition" according to Maryum Abbas, the daughter of the previous owners. Maryum and her parents had enjoyed the property as a family home since 2003.
According to Cllr Cowan the landlord, Ali Hussain, is known to own a "large portfolio" of properties in the area which are being lived in. However, Cowan has anecdotally heard that his other properties are also "not in a good condition".
Fellow councillor Lydia Hyde has also been campaigning for the landlord to address the condition of the house. She said: "The state of the property is very poor and is causing a lot of distress to local neighbours, as vandals have got in along with local wildlife.
"The property at 25 Prince Avenue has previously had planning applications put in. The last one was to do a large extension to the side which was rejected and since then work has stopped."
Another planning application was accepted by Southend Council in 2020 to extend the roof to create a third floor. This work was also not carried out. Mr Hussain was unavailable for comment.
