BRITAIN is covered in “ghost” housing estates filled with eyesores from seafront apartments to abandoned newbuild streets and war zone flats.
Eerie sites in all parts of the country from Kent to Leicester and as far north as Sunderland are being taken over by fly-tippers and drugs abusers after plans were forgotten about.
BPM MediaThe estate in Birmingham has become a ‘no-go zone’ for locals[/caption]
BPM MediaThe abandoned council flats in the West Mids has been taken over by vandals[/caption]
SWNSThe half-bulit and crumbling The Sands[/caption]
SWNSHospital Close, Leicester, a derelict NHS housing estate[/caption]
In most cases, estates have been abandoned when construction companies go bust and the work can no longer be carried out.
And now plots, some of which have fully built homes, are lifeless with no one ever having moved in.
That was until they became home to thugs who love to vandal buildings, drug abusers, louts and in some cases animals.
Here are a few ghost towns in the UK:
St Mary’s Bay, Kent
The crumbling £20m housing estate in The Sands, Kent, has become a home for animals after plans for 59 houses and 26 apartments were approved in 2016 before quickly being forgotten about.
Contractors abandoned the 85 homes in Dymchurch Road after a national shortage of plasterboard delayed the launch.
Neighbours said works continued on the site but came to a halt in early 2022 – with building materials hanging around the plot.
Compass Builders Ltd then fell into administration earlier this year and the development was left in ruins ever since.
Bob Thomson, who lives a few doors down from the estate, said the building used to have security guards to avoid intruders.
And residents are now begging the council to demolish the building.
John Underwood, who lives in nearby Jefferstone Lane, said: “It’s a disgrace – I’ve only lived here for a year, but it has been like that the whole time I’ve been here.
“It needs to be knocked down for something for the community.
“We have not been updated or told anything, so we have all just been going off rumours.”
Hospital Close, Leicester
Locals living near to Hospital Close in the East Mids have been forced to face piles of rubbish and drug dealers using it as a meeting point ever since old tenants were kicked out in 2019.
The plot has been abandoned and neglected since.
What was once a bustling area for hospital workers and their families has since been ditched after Leicester’s NHS trust could no longer afford to maintain or upgrade the properties.
Eviction notices were then issued before the estate became a hotspot for antisocial behaviour.
Ashley Lewis, 32, who lives nearby, said: “It’s quite spooky to be honest, it’s a complete ghost town now.
“It used to be a thriving little community of NHS staff and their families.”
Gildas Avenue, Birmingham
Homeowners near Gildas Avenue, in Birmingham, say the street has become a hub for crimes.
Vandals graffiti houses that are no longer lived in as well as smashing in their windows.
Overgrown gardens make it hard to see properties with others having silver metal boards across any possible entrance.
Resident Kathleen Witheridge previously told The Birmingham Mail: “It looks really horrible.
“It’s like a war zone with all of the rubbish and graffiti everywhere. I don’t feel comfortable here.”
Neighbour Michelle Mulhall added: “I think it’s disgusting how the council have left residents.
“It’s bad down here. The buildings have just been boarded up and left. Nobody wants to come down here.”
SWNSPart of St Mary’s Bay in Kent is blocked off[/caption]
BPM MediaCMichelle Mulhall said Gildas Avenue is ‘disgusting’[/caption]
SWNSThe site in Leicester was abandoned when the NHS trust stop spending money on improvements[/caption]
BPM MediaGardens in Birmingham are overgrown and covered in rubbish[/caption]
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