A ‘ghost city’ of half-built flat pack homes has been completely demolished after standing unfinished for more than a year.
The Meadow Grange development in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, was due to see 131 homes built.
Dozens of empty shells of half-built houses, by developer Guinness Homes, have now been razed to the ground.
Frustrated residents had repeatedly branded them an ‘eyesore’ after the properties were left partially-built when specialist contractor Ilke Homes was placed in administration.
It was also found that the homes partially built had failed to meet health and safety standards.
The developer has been unable to say when work will commence on the site to rebuild on the land.
Urban explorer Martin Halliday, who visited the site, said: ‘The land just looks ragged now – a mix of semi-abandoned building materials and wasteland.
‘I hear there are plans for more new-builds to take the place of the ones recently demolished, maybe the new [ones] will actually conform to health and safety standards.
A ‘ghost city’ of half-built flat pack homes in Southend-on-Sea, Essex has been completely demolished after standing unfinished for more than a year
The Meadow Grange development in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, was due to see 131 homes built. – but dozens of homes have now been razed to the ground
It was found that some of the partially built homes failed to meet health and safety standards
‘The main thing that looks bad is the blue boards that surround the site, just like those that are around where the new Southend United football stadium was supposed to be, a little further down the road.’
‘It just looks deserted, I am sure both plots of land will get used for housing at some point in the future.
‘That seems to be the main focus at the moment, to build as many new houses and flats as possible.’
Meadow Grange was described by Guinness Homes as a ‘a new and exciting pocket of its own nestled between coast, city and countryside’.
The abandoned houses are a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced homes with either two, three or four bedrooms.
Flat pack homes are manufactured off-site in sections and then are shipped and assembled easily where the houses are going to be.
It is not known how much the houses on Meadow Grange estate were going to sell for but they are part of the government’s shared ownership scheme.
A local estate agent said they would estimate the two-bedroom flat pack builds would sell for around £350,000.
Guinness Homes were contacted for comment.
Dozens of empty shells of half-built houses, by developer Guinness Homes, have now been razed to the ground
The abandoned houses are a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced homes with either two, three or four bedrooms
Meadow Grange was described by Guinness Homes as a ‘a new and exciting pocket of its own nestled between coast, city and countryside’
It is not known how much the houses on Meadow Grange estate were going to sell for but they are part of the government’s shared ownership scheme, while local estate agents estimated a two-bed home would sell for £350,000
Fenced off: The developer has been unable to say when work will commence on the site to rebuild on the land
Urban explorer Martin Halliday, who visited the site, said: ‘The land just looks ragged now – a mix of semi-abandoned building materials and wasteland’
Building work on the mini-village stopped in June last year after the joint developer Ilke Homes, which produces flat pack houses, went into administration
Locals previously blasted the decision to demolish the new-build ghost estate as ‘shameful’
Meadow Grange estate in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, (pictured before demolition) was going to add 131 new homes to create a mini village with specialist ‘flat pack’ houses
Some of the houses on the outside looked finished but have now been razed to the ground
The houses lay empty for more than a year before the developers finally demolished them
Frustrated residents had repeatedly branded them an ‘eyesore’ after the properties were left partially-built when specialist contractor Ilke Homes was placed in administration
Flat pack homes are manufactured off-site in sections and then are shipped and assembled easily where the houses are going to be
It is not known how much the houses on Meadow Grange estate were going to sell for but they are part of the government’s shared ownership scheme
