Redditch home collapses in the middle of the night

Investigations are continuing into what caused the rear of this West Midlands period home to cave in...

The smashed brickwork, piles of rubble and gaping holes in the facade of this property in Redditch, north-east Worcestershire, are sure to send chills down the spine of any homeowner.

Home to both a business and residential tenants, the two-storey Victorian property had stood the test of time until the early hours of Sunday 15 July, when the rear of the building crumbled dramatically.

Photo courtesy @HWFireControl/Twitter

While nobody was hurt in the incident, the emergency services, who arrived at 12.06am, carried out an evacuation of neighbouring homes on Mount Pleasant, a residential street in the south of Redditch.

A spokesperson for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said two engines attended the scene along with the Urban Search and Rescue team (USAR). “An inner cordon was put in place and the USAR team assessed the condition of the building. The USAR dog was also deployed to the exterior and interior to check for any people.”

Photo courtesy @HWFireControl/Twitter

A building in jeopardy

Gas workers and a structural engineer made sure the area was safe, but a spokesperson for Redditch Borough Council said it would be down to the owners and their insurers to find the cause, as the building was privately owned.

“The property owner has now appointed structural engineers and work has begun to ensure the remainder of the building is rendered safe. We will be attending the site again in due course to ensure that work is being completed as it should be. After this point the council’s involvement will cease as this is a privately owned property.”

Photo courtesy @HWFireControl/Twitter

Investigators are likely to look closely at whether construction taking place directly behind the building has had any impact on its structural integrity.

Planning permission for the development of four flats was granted in 2013, with an application to increase that number to six having been rejected in 2015, and work appears to be well underway on the ground floor of a new building.

Photo courtesy @HWFireControl/Twitter

While home collapses are still rare, the incident in Redditch sadly isn't an isolated event, thanks to the increasing number of refurbishment and development works on older properties. In February 2018, a property in Hampstead, north London crumbled from 'roof to basement ' during a construction project.

First-time buyers' hotspot

Property developers may be hoping to take advantage of Redditch’s relatively strong housing market. According to Zoopla house prices in the town have risen by 0.82% to an average of £233,376 in the past year. This may not seem hugely impressive, but Redditch has proved a canny place to invest in the long term.

A Halifax report released last year found that new towns had outperformed much of the country between 1986 and 2016, and Redditch, designated a new town in 1964, was one of the best performing of the lot. In that period it has seen prices increase by 521%, not far behind top of the table Milton Keynes, where they leaped by 601%.

Falling unemployment, which has halved since 2010 to just 1,139, easy access to both Birmingham and the countryside, and house prices that are within reach of first-time buyers also make it an attractive place to live.

A three bedroom home on Mount Pleasant Road, admittedly in need of some extensive modernising, sold for £148,000 in November 2017, while a more up-to-date two-bedroom semi-detached home fetched £174,000 in January of this year

Photo courtesy @HWFireControl/Twitter