'Disgrace' The house derelict for 20 years on 'premier' Swindon street

A derelict house on Victoria Road is a disgrace, says the owner of the neighbouring property.

Chris Evans, 67, says the shuttered, graffitied and burnt Oxford House on one of Swindon’s “premier streets” is a damning indictment on the town.

He wants something done about the house under the council’s empty homes scheme after it has sat unoccupied for at least 20 years.

Chris said: “This is one of the most prestigious roads in Swindon and for the council to allow that to happen is pretty disgraceful.”

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Outside the house is the Cannon Street bus stop. Like the house, it is burnt with the plastic sign melted.

He said: “A bus load of passengers look at this every day and shake their heads in disbelief. I can't believe it's allowed to happen.”

Another nearby resident, Agne, said: “It has become some sort of like freakish attraction for people to have a laugh and point at.”

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The nearby property puts off potential tenants, Chris believes, and is damaging his business.

The house is not only said to be unsightly but also dangerous. Agne has lived next door to Oxford House for 10 years and has seen squatters living there.

She said: “You don’t know if you are going to be attacked walking home. If that house goes on fire, straight away it will spread into our house.

“This house needs to be knocked down. The council needs to get involved.”

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Chris was told by Swindon Borough Council’s empty homes team that the house’s owner was served a Section 215 notice.

This legislation orders private landlords to clean up the house or potentially face a fine. The council can also clean up the house themselves and charge the owner for the cost.

Chris was told by a council officer that work was due to start in June, which has not happened.

Chris also directly emailed the Chief Executive of Swindon Borough Council, Samantha Mowbray.

“She said, ‘Dear Mr Evans, I can fully understand your exasperation. I will ask the director of planning to contact you as a matter of urgency’”, Chris explained.

“That was on the 1st of May. I haven’t heard a thing.”

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A council spokesperson said: “Bringing long-term empty homes back into use is often a very complicated and lengthy process.

“We always try to work with the owners of empty properties in the first instance to bring them up to standard with a view to them being occupied.

“In this case, our attempts to encourage the owner to carry out improvement works have been unsuccessful so we will now be using powers under the Housing Act to ensure this work is carried out.”

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In 2021, Cathy Martyn, then Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Safety said: “Every single home which has been left empty for a significant period of time is one too many.”

At the time there were 294 private homes which had been empty for over a year, classing them as ‘long-term empty’.

The owner of the house could not be identified for comment.

“It is quite a grand house”, noted Chris and local historian, Frances Bevan, wrote in 2023 that Oxford House dates from around the end of the 19th century.

In the 1980s it was the office of architect Geoffrey Drew. The Land Registry records the freehold was last sold on March 31, 2006 for £200,000.

Frances recorded that around 2022 work began on the house stripping the roof and installing new windows, before the builders left and the windows were boarded up.

“And so”, she writes, “it stands, dilapidated, unloved.”