EYESORE: Abbots Langley property becomes ‘dumping ground’ 

A resident of Raymond Close in Abbots said a neighbouring property has been left in a “terrible state” by Watford Community Housing (WCH) for weeks.

Alan Cripps told AbbotsNews that the occupant of the house next to his left three months ago, and that at the time, the property was in perfectly good condition. 

WCH then repossessed the property and, around six weeks ago, some of its employees came to the property and put all of its indoor contents in the front garden.

Alan explained: “At the time, I asked them if they were going to get a skip, but they said they were just going to get a grab lorry to come and take everything. 

“In the end they did get a skip, but they only filled it about halfway – they left everything else on the porch and garden.

“They left the skip there half empty and, as you can imagine, local people then just started using the property as a dumping ground. 

“The rest of the skip was full in no time. Eventually, some company took the skip away, but all the other stuff that wasn’t in it has just been left on the porch.”

Julie Wittich, interim group director of operations for Watford Community Housing, said: “Unfortunately, this property was not cleared by the previous occupants when it was vacated. 

“We are currently working hard to clear the property and get it ready for re-letting but this is being hindered by a significant amount of fly tipping at the property over the last few weeks. 

“We’re sorry for the impact that this has had on neighbouring households, and we’d like to reassure local residents that we will complete the clearance of this property as quickly as possible.

“We’re committed to delivering high-quality services and ensuring that our neighbourhoods are well-kept and well-managed. Over the last year we have been working hard to deal with empty properties in a timely manner while adhering to lockdown restrictions, which have made it more difficult to carry out these works.

“There has also been a sharp increase in fly-tipping during the pandemic, which has proved challenging to housing associations and local authorities nationwide.”