‘BULGING CAR PARK WALL HAS KNOCKED £600K OFF MY FARMHOUSE’

A homeowner has claimed a car park wall that is bulging into his garden has knocked £600,000 off the value of his farmhouse.

The garden of Home Farm, a £1 million farmhouse in the Gloucestershire village of South Woodchester, is looked over by a seven-space car park at street level.

The car park, which is run by the local council, is separated from the garden by a 12ft retaining wall.

Andrew Ewart-James, who bought Home Farm in 1977, said the wall had always been crumbling, but that over the past five years it had “lurched forward” into his garden.

The 78-year-old is desperate to sell the property following the death of his wife but believes potential buyers will be put off by the subsiding wall.

He has now issued a High Court proceeding against Stroud District Council and intends to claim for damages.

He said: “I feel trapped. I am fed up with the council – they never say anything, never respond to me and never say what they are doing.

“They say they keep the residents up to date but it is not true – they won’t disclose their plans, but I know they are doing the cheapest job they can and they do not really care when they get around to doing it.

“I’m too old to hang around so I have issued instructions to go to High Court proceedings against them for damages.”

He added: “Nobody with half a brain would buy a house in this condition. It’s probably worth somewhere over £1m.

“I reckon the fall in the value of this house would mean only an investor would buy it in its current condition for around £400,000.”

The council has put up scaffolding to help support the wall until a long-term solution can be found.

A council spokesman said: “We have conducted essential preliminary work to identify the cause of the wall’s movement and determine the appropriate course of action.

“Comprehensive structural and geotechnical surveys are now complete and our structural engineers have finalised the design for the repairs.

“We are waiting for feedback on our plans from the resident’s own structural engineer.

“We understand that living so close to a construction site poses challenges, however this is an unusually complex case due to the scale, construction type and location.

“We have kept the owner of the neighbouring property informed of our actions throughout the process. Ensuring the safety of the public remains our priority.”

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2024-10-02T11:37:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd