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A mum says her dream home has been left battered, exposed and crawling with pests after the neighbouring half of her semi-detached house was bulldozed away. Shivarna Mitra, 44, claims she’s been stuck living in a damaged home with a leaking roof, holes in the walls and massive heating bills after her neighbour demolished the adjoining property over safety concerns. The UK mother bought the three-bedroom home in Pudsey, Leeds in 2021 for $414,000 (£217,000), fresh from a cancer battle, and poured another $152,500 (£80,000) into renovations.
MORE NEWS $60m Aus landlord giving away home for free Council threatens $300 fines over Halloween decoration ‘Bit scary’: Tradie skips property ladder to build wealth She believed it would be her forever home – a place to share with her young son and her mother. Instead, she says it has become a disaster. Within a year of moving in, the property next door was sold.
A Leeds mother says her home has been badly damaged after the neighbouring half of her semi-detached house was knocked down. Source: YouTube/ SWNS The new owner began work on an extension, but the entire house was later torn down before planning approval had been granted. A retrospective planning application was later knocked back by Leeds City Council.
Now, grim images show a barren block next to Ms Mitra’s home, littered with debris and weeds, while the missing half of the semi has never been rebuilt. Ms Mitra told The Sun that the fallout has been devastating. “We’ve got damp on the walls, rats have been eating the electrics, we’ve had squirrels in the cavity walls, holes in the roof – the list is endless,” she said.
“I don’t have the funds or the help to fix it. I didn’t ask for this, no one would ask for this, but shows it can happen to anyone.” Shivarna Mitra, 44, said the ordeal has turned what she hoped would be her “forever home” into an ongoing nightmare. Source: YouTube/ SWNS Her heating bill has reportedly blown out to $1200 (£630) a month as she tries to keep warmth inside the property.
She now fears the home may be impossible to sell and worries it could have underlying structural problems. Ms Mitra said she turned to the council for help but has been left to deal with the fallout herself. The council advised her to weatherproof the exposed wall where the neighbouring house once stood.
Ms Mitra bought the three-bedroom Pudsey property in 2021 for £217,000, while recovering from cancer. Source: YouTube/ SWNS But Ms Mitra says she cannot fully fix the damage because she has not been allowed to convert the property into a detached dwelling. She has since launched legal action through her insurer, although she says it could take up to two years to reach court.
Leeds City Council told The Sun that a building control officers inspected the site after the unauthorised demolition and found Ms Mitra’s home remained structurally stable. The vacant site has since been sold for $219,263 (£115,000) and approval has now been granted for a new home to be built there. Images from the site show the now-empty block beside Ms Mitra’s house, with rubble and overgrown weeds where the other half of the semi once stood.
Source: YouTube/ SWNS Land owner Chris Rhodes denied doing anything illegal, telling The Sun that the demolition was carried out to prevent danger. “There were very unfortunate circumstances that cost my wife and me a significant amount of money and stress,” he said. “This was a series of unfortunate circumstances that have created a bad situation, of which I tried to work with all parties concerned at every point to resolve.”
Source: realestate.com.au
