Neighbour’s overgrown garden leads to £4K fine

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A homeowner will have to pay more than £4,000 after letting a garden overgrow so much that it made a neighbour’s fence collapse.

Roger Thompson, of Admers Wood, Gravesend, was fined in court on October 5 after the rear of his property in Sidcup, Bexley, caused “distress to neighbours and the local community”.

According to local residents, the house has allegedly been empty for three years.

A neighbour of the house, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s been empty for three years. The elderly resident died, and from what I can understand, the two sons are looking after the property. Well, I say looking after, it’s gone to wrack and ruin.”

A Bexley council spokesman said that the rear of the property was “completely covered in overgrown vegetation”.

They said the house was so overgrown that people in the area reportedly throw their rubbish into the front garden.

The neighbour said that the unsecured side passage of the property meant squatters had full access to the garden of the house. In recent years, the neighbour said animals have also made their home in the back garden.

They added: “There’s been a fox den in there the past couple of years. So every night, especially since they’ve just had cubs, the cubs are running up and down the road causing chaos, screeching at the top of their voices.”

The council spokesman said the owner was given a warning in 2018, requiring them to “take steps to maintain the vegetation, rear garden, infrastructure and surrounds of the premises”.

They said the warning was given to prevent “detriment to the amenity of the area and the quality of life of others in the locality”, as the owner’s actions were against the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

The spokesman said the owner did not take any steps to improve the state of the house after being served the notice. After being fined they were also given an order to carry out the requirements of the previous notice.

Thompson was made to pay the maximum fine of £2,500, alongside £1,420.49 in costs, and a victim surcharge of £190.

Councillor Peter Craske, cabinet member for places, said that the fine for the landlord should “serve as a warning” to other homeowners who left empty properties unmanaged.

The councillor described the Sidcup house as being in a state of “disgusting disrepair”.

He said: “The state of this property has caused distress to neighbours and the local community. I hope that the owner will now address these long overdue issues.”

The fine comes after an application was received by Bexley council last month to build a new house on the site next to the existing one.

This is the fifth application made to build on the property, with a previous plan for building a new house being refused as it was “out of character” and “detrimental” to the character of the local area, according to the planning document.