'It's like living next to a tip' - Bretton resident says her life has been made a misery by abandoned home

A Peterborough resident has described a neighbouring home as being ‘like a tip’ saying the abandoned property is making her life a misery.

Louise Craig has lived at her home in Ellindon, Bretton, for the past 12 years – and her partner for the last 40 years – but they are leaving the house after the problems caused by property, which is managed by Longhurst, next door.

Louise said the smell and pest problems caused by the overgrown garden has forced them to leave.

She said: “It is horrific. The neighbour who had been there for a number of years passed away in March 2022, and since then it has got worse and worse.

"There are so many rats, who come through and destroy the crops I have grown – we have raspberries and apple trees, but they have all gone.

"The garden has lots of rubbish in it – fish tanks and all sorts of things. There are teddies in there, which have become home for the rats.

"There are also wasp nests – I had family come round at the weekend, and they left with wasp stings as a result.

"And the smell is so bad, especially when the sun is out – we can’t have our windows open. You can smell it through the walls.

"It is like living next to a tip.

"We own our house, but it is a former council house, and we have sold it back – we didn’t want to leave, our son grew up here and we have so many good memories, but we don’t have a choice.”

Louise is now calling on Longhurst to bring the property up to scratch, so the home can be used by a family.

She said: “The council is paying for hotel rooms for homeless people to stay in, when there are homes like this. They are big homes, I think it is a three bedroom house. “We are told it will take a lot of work to get it ready, but if it had been looked after, it would not have got in this state in the first place.”

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow visited the property to speak to Louise, and he agreed. He said: “Sadly the previous tenant died 18 months ago - and Longhurst has let the property to become a dangerous eyesore.

“They should clean up this property and garden and let this out to a family! We have families waiting for properties like this - so to see a house like this wasted is completely wrong!”

A Longhurst Group spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for this ongoing situation and the impact this is having on the local community.

“When the property became empty, we undertook a full survey of the home and determined that it requires extensive work including kitchen and bathroom replacements, full redecoration, and upgrades to the heating system.

“This property becoming vacant coincided with us changing our contractors and this, combined with issues sourcing materials, supplies and labour, has unfortunately led to a significant delay in completing the work required.

“We met with our contractors last month to scope out the work required and are awaiting a quote to allow us to proceed. A full garden clearance has already been arranged with another of our contractors.

“We are committed to bringing this property back up to the standard required as soon as possible and provide a safe and secure home for someone else.”