Locals have expressed concern about what will happen after a rat-infested half-finished house was sold at auction.
The property, built in Shirley, Solihull, was sold for £600,000 on September 5 after being abandoned for months.
While the official listing describes the house on Portia Avenue it as a “rare and incredible opportunity”, locals are concerned about the impact on the community when work restarts on the rat-infested building site.
They claim that passersby have been using the site to dump their rubbish and are worried the cars owned by the new occupants will “overrun” their street.
Furthermore, local residents are also annoyed that the local council has done “nothing to support the community” whilst the mansion has been abandoned.
Carole Martin, 74, said: “It annoys me that the council don’t do anything to help us with it. I’ve seen rats coming down here and lots of foxes. To leave a property like that is a disgrace.
“There have been people who have been dumping their rubbish in there. It’s bad but at least it’s out of the way and not on the street.
“We have people come around and they can’t believe how big it was. If you go around the back, it’s even bigger.
“How can somebody do that? This road is like a carpark every single day of the week.”
Ms Martin added: “If it’s a six-bed property where do all the cars go? The council said it had two garages, but the garages don’t exist.”
Another resident, John, 75, has lived in the area for 30 years and his home looks onto the abandoned site.
He described the house as a “carbuncle” and expressed worry about the whole site “being turned into flats”.
He added: “It’s a genuine worry. I don’t what to say other than it’s a massive carbuncle on the area as a whole.”
Another resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, said they are worried that Portia Avenue could look like a car park when the work is completed.
She said: “The house sold for £600k, we were on holiday. I think it sold on September 5. We had foxes and rats along the street.
“The back of the garden is ridiculous. There were foxes jumping along our fences from the house. Just the other night I saw six foxes come into my garden from that house and laze about.”
