Vandals reduce Glenwood home to a shell of its former glory

A HOUSE in Loudoun Road, Glenwood, has been a blight on the area for residents living in this close-knit street for many years, with neighbouring properties now having to contend with petty crime as a result of vagrants who have moved onto the property.

According to a resident, Rob Makepeace, the property has been vacant since he first bought his home in Loudoun Road in July 2011. He said the property has a non-functioning electric fence and unlocked driveway gate which has meant that over the past few months thieves and vagrants have had to be chased off the property. As a result of the property being derelict, it is now a target for criminal activities. The house has been slowly stripped as windows have been removed as well as floorboards and doors and pipes have been ripped off.

“It has further been used as base for criminals to enter the adjacent houses on both Loudoun and Clark Road. Glass is strewn around the property where windows have been broken. Further deterioration of the property will cause it to become a health hazard as well,” said Makepeace.

Makepeace first contacted the municipality regarding the house in 2012 and was told a written notice would be sent to the owner and property rates would be multiplied five times. He has also sent numerous emails to Metro since then.

“I have been in contact with the building inspectors and was told in 2015 that the owners could not be traced. In the latest correspondence with the municipality in July, I was told that the Building Inspectorate had served notices and a summons, however all efforts to locate and prosecute the owner proved futile,” he said.

He said the property had been up for sale since 2015 with an asking price of R1.450 000, however an estate agent told Berea Mail that they had given up on the sale as there was no longer any point in trying to sell the home.

“The house is so vandalised there are only walls left. We can't take prospective buyers there. There must be a huge outstanding rates bill on the property. We have tried to contact the owner to let him know it can no longer be sold, but we have not been able to get hold of him,” said the agent.

Makepeace and other residents are concerned about the crime which has increased in the road following a mugging in the area on 14 July, where a woman's cellphone, banks cards and some money were taken.

“This robber proceeded to jump over the fence into the derelict house. Blue Security and SAPS were notified and three vehicles from Blue Security arrived promptly and after searching the house two other vagrants were found on the property, but not the robber. The woman's handbag was recovered from the derelict house, but not her phone, bank cards or money. There have also been two incidences of fence hoppers at a property in the road,” said Makepeace.

Resident, Avril Wilson, whose family has lived in the road for more than 100 years, said she felt the situation was terrible.

“It's just not on having houses deserted. Crime is now too close for comfort and this home is an escape route for criminals,” she said.

On seeing the state of the house recently, resident Nick Young-Thompson was shocked. “We moved into our house in the road three months ago, and it is really sad to see heritage disintegrating to such an extent,” he said.

In response to queries from Berea Mail as to the future of the property, and how much was owed in rates, eThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa said the the city did not divulge a resident's account details to a third party.

“The respective property is in fact private property, therefore the onus lies with the property owner to protect his or her property or surrender it to council should they find it difficult to maintain or protect it. The Municipality therefore, does not have the power to act in the absence of an official letter, preferably endorsed by the court of law asking for the city to intervene,” she said.

Regarding 'problem buildings', she said closing down a building was a last resort once all legal avenues had been exhausted, and from an economic and city regeneration point of view, buildings must contribute to the rates base of the City.

“It is important to understand that each derelict building poses its own set of unique problems, therefore different strategies are applied to address each case.

Some derelict buildings are owned by people who live abroad, some are leased or sub-let to a number of tenants, some have been ‘hijacked’ and some are owned by people who are deceased. Therefore, the city cannot apply a blanket approach in dealing with some of these complex cases,” she said.

Mthethwa said the Municipality appealed to property owners to ensure their properties were well maintained as derelict buildings impacted negatively on the surrounding neighbourhood. Residents can also report any illegal activity to the South African Police Service and Metro Police.

The 24-hour call centre number that they can contact is 031 361 0000 (Emergency Services, Metro Police, Fire and Disaster Management).