Inside Britain’s eerie ‘ghost’ housing estates: From seafront apartments to NHS homes and ‘warzones’ – how locals are condemned to live beside land abandoned by developers… and taken over by drug-abusers, fly-tippers and vandals
These are the eerie housing estates across Britain which were abandoned by developers and are now fertile ground for drug addicts, fly-tippers and vandals.
Bankrupt companies which could no longer afford to finish, maintain or afford multi-million pound housing developments across the country are leaving whole estates to rot – with residents forced to move out or live beside ‘ghost towns’.
Locals as far flung as Kent, Sunderland and Leicester who are condemned to live beside these estates claim the sites have been taken over by louts and drug abusers.
In some cases, gas and electricity are even cut off to the estate and empty windows and doors are blocked in with cardboard – while other examples show barren estates infested with rubbish, unfinished building work and graffiti-ridden walls.
Here, MailOnline has compiled some of the eerie estates…
Hospital Close in Evington, Leicester
Residents living in one housing estate in Leicester, which was abandoned in 2019 having been built for NHS staff, said the area is full of rubbish and drug dealers after the old tenants were kicked out and the area was neglected.
Once a bustling community of hospital workers and their families, Hospital Close was ditched after University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust decided it could not afford to maintain the homes or upgrade them to modern standards.
As a result, the Trust issued eviction notices to hospital staff and the health workers, including many nurses, living in the properties were forced to move out.
Since then, the remaining residents say they have been ‘forgotten about’ as the estate has also become a hotspot for antisocial behaviour.
Ashley Lewis, 32, who lives on a neighbouring road, 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.
Residents living in a housing estate in Evington, Leicester, which was abandoned in 2019 having been built for NHS staff, said the area if full of rubbish and drug dealers
Hospital Close was abandoned after University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust decided it could not afford to maintain the homes
The remaining residents say they have been ‘forgotten about’ as the estate has also become a hotspot for antisocial behaviour
Graffiti is seen on the cardboard windows of the properties in the Leicester estate
Litter is seen strewn on the ground on the estate after it was abandoned in 2019
It said it would spend more than £4 million bringing the homes back into use
Hospital staff previously spoke of their anger at being given just three months to find somewhere new to live after being booted out of the properties
In 2019, hospital workers who lived on the site were told they had to leave
‘It’s gone from having these angels and life-savers to drug dealers and thugs. As people know its derelict you get people using and selling drugs, boy racers using it as a track and I don’t even walk over that way anymore.
‘The fly-tipping is just constant, one thing will get dumped and once that’s cleared another load will replace it. It’s just really sad to see.’
Grandfather-of-two Terry Goldsmith, 69, who also lives nearby, added: ‘The place has just been left to rot and its a real shame.
‘You’ve got the hospital right next to it so it was a perfect place for staff to live. I’ve lived her 45 years and it was also quite a nice place to be.
‘But now it looks like a warzone, the whole place is boarded up and a complete mess. There’s no street lights so it’s quite frightening.’
Hospital staff previously spoke of their anger at being given just three months to find somewhere new to live after being booted out of the properties.
The Woolmill Place in Sorn, East Ayrshire, Scotland
In the picturesque town of Sorn, a ‘ghost town’ estate exists where only three houses are occupied after building work stopped on it more than a decade ago.
The group of 16 homes, once worth around £300,000 each, lie mostly abandoned after work began in 2007 then came to a halt when the financial crash hit.
In Sorn a ‘ghost town’ estate lies where only three houses are occupied after building work stopped on it more than a decade ago
Pictures from inside show unfitted toilets and baths tossed aside in different rooms
Another look at the abandoned state in which these homes were left when work stopped
The Woolmill Place properties have walls that are half painted and plastered. There are also unfitted toilets and baths tossed aside in various different rooms.
The few residents who moved in to the housing complex say they are still ‘outraged’ it was never completed – and remain empty during today’s housing crisis.
The properties were put up by a building company that went bust following the credit crunch in 2007.
Following its bankruptcy the site was bought by McLaughlin Construction for £2million.
Local residents say the company, who have been building for the housing, leisure, retail, health and education sectors for more than 60 years, has done nothing since – leaving the homes slowly falling apart with derelict interiors.
Shannon and Billy Bigham, 67 and 68, have stayed in their big villa since construction work began.
The Scottish properties were originally worth close to £300,000 before work stopped on them
The estate in Sorn is now being taken over by nature, with overgrown gardens
Only three properties are occupied in the nearly empty housing estate
The Woolmill Estate sign that greets people before they make their way in
The site was originally built by a building company which went bust following the 2007 credit crunch
One woman who lives in one of the homes said: ‘Nothing has been done for years’
Retired education officer Shannon told the Daily Record: ‘The fact we have to stay in this kind of place is nonsense.
‘I understand that these projects take a lot of time – but nothing has been done for years.
‘When we moved here we were promised that it would be a great community and we believed them.
‘The thing is this would be a fantastic place for families to live as it is such a nice village.
‘We would have a great chance of winning village of the year, but due to this one street we can’t even apply for it.’
The Sands, St Mary’s Bay on Romney Marsh, Kent
A half-built £20million housing estate which was abandoned by contractors has become a ‘disgusting dumping ground’ for vandals and fly-tippers in Kent.
The Sands was expected to welcome its first residents in the summer of 2019 but supply issues delayed the build.
More than four years on, contractors are nowhere to be seen and furious locals say the prime site – which is full of pigeons and rabbits – has become a ‘disgrace’.
Bob Thomson, who lives a few doors down from the abandoned estate in Dymchurch Road, says the whole 85-home development needs pulling down.
A half-built £20million housing estate which was abandoned by contractors has become a ‘disgusting dumping ground’ for vandals and fly-tippers in Kent
The Sands was expected to welcome its first residents in the summer of 2019 but supply issues delayed the build
‘It would cost more to put right due to the state it is in,’ he said.
‘You can see the pigeons living in the buildings with all the broken windows.
‘We used to have security guards living in static caravans to stop people entering the site, but since work stopped anyone can wander on there.
‘Loads of people have been fly-tipping. I think it’s a disgrace.’
In 2016, plans submitted by Stanford-based developer FDC Homes Ltd were approved by Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) for 59 houses and 26 apartments.
The site was later sold to Compass Builders Ltd and work commenced in early 2018, but a national shortage of plasterboard delayed the expected launch the following summer.
More than four years on, contractors are nowhere to be seen and furious locals say the prime site – which is full of pigeons and rabbits – has become a ‘disgrace’
The half-broken fencing around the empty homes makes it easy for anyone to wander onto the land and cause damage
Neighbours say construction did continue on the site but came to a halt in early 2022, with many building materials left abandoned around the plot.
Compass Builders Ltd then fell into administration earlier this year, leaving a huge question mark over the future of the development.
Hetton-le-Hole, in Sunderland
People living in Hetton-le-Hole, in Sunderland, said their lives are being made a misery after their homes after a housing estate was abandoned when the builders went bust.
The towering hoardings surrounding their homes make them feel like they are ‘living in a prison’.
Work on the Eskdene Rise estate came to a grinding halt in February when builders Tolent went into administration.
People living in Hetton-le-Hole, in Sunderland, said their lives are being made a misery after their homes after a housing estate was abandoned when the builders went bust
Fed-up householders have had to put up with dust, noise, mud, and claim cracks started to appear in their homes when work started on the 86-home development in July 2022.
However, an independent company carried out surveys on the homes and found the cracks were not related to the works.
Social housing provider Gentoo says it understands people’s frustrations but the unfinished work is due to circumstances out of their control.
Hetton Town councillor Lynsey Gibson lives with her partner Glenn and three children on the estate and said: ‘It was bad enough when the site was ongoing, but since work stopped, we have been left with an eyesore. Residents are left looking at hoarding boards in a prison-like environment.
‘After I complained about the noise from the security guard, I was told this will be changing to an occasional guard, but I am concerned about the noise from metal gates opening during the night.’
Sunderland City Council granted approval for the affordable homes back in January 2022, with a mix of two, three, and four-bedroom homes.
But since work was halted housholders claim they have been ‘fobbed off’ by Gentoo and kept in the dark about the future of the site.
A date of when work will restart or when the site will be completed is yet to be given.
Gildas Avenue in Birmingham
Local residents say that Gildas Avenue in Birmingham has become a magnet for vandals, and a hub for anti-social behaviour and urban decay.
The estate is covered with graffiti – which is splattered all over the walls – boarded-up windows and overgrown gardens.
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.’
The street is now empty after residents have moved out ahead of planned building works. Pictured: The rubbish in a garden of a house
Depressing pictures show the state of buildings on Gildas Avenue in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham. Pictured: A block covered in graffiti
The estate is covered with graffiti – which is splattered all over the walls – boarded-up windows and overgrown gardens
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.’
Locals have said the state of the area encourages anti-social behaviour and low-level crime.
Birmingham Live reported last year that Carl Harris – the last resident of the deserted estate – was in a 16-year battle with the council for a ‘fair price’ for his home.
The 65-year-old and the council reached a deal last year after he lived on the street for 32 years.
The council had plans for a housing scheme in Kings Norton that aims to build 1,000 new homes and whilst other estates such as the Primrose and Pool Farm Estate were initiated in 2000, Gildas Avenue was not included until seven years later.
Mr Harris said that whilst he knew that his home would be a part of this scheme since 2007, he claimed the council did not make him an offer until a decade later.
But being the only resident left in an abandoned housing estate has not been easy, with the outlet reporting that he has had to endure break-ins to his property over a number of years.
Most of the windows on old flat blocks are boarded up, and their walls are covered in graffiti on Gildas Avenue in Birmingham
Birmingham Live reported last year that Carl Harris – the last resident of the deserted estate – was in a 16-year battle with the council for a ‘fair price’ for his home
Mr Harris said that whilst he knew that his home would be a part of this scheme since 2007, he claimed the council did not make him an offer until a decade later. Pictured: The empty estate
Two men are pictured clearing up the rubbish and fly-tipping on Gildas Avenue in Birmingham
Michelle Mulhall said she thinks the way the council has ‘left residents’ is ‘disgusting’ and that nobody wants to come to the area
In 2018, thieves broke into his house via the back door and stole many of Mr Harris’s belongings. In the same year, he even had council officers bashing away at his front door as they mistook it for a property they owned.
But it has not stopped there. Although they replaced the door, Mr Harris had it kicked down again last year and feels that this is one of the reason why he should get compensation.
Harrowing pictures of the estate show heaps of rubbish that had been left in the garden of a house and another snap showed two men sweeping and attempting to clear the litter off the street.
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