Brothers buy £450,000 house to find it filled with rubbish

A landlord who paid £450,000 for a town house found it was piled with rubbish after 40 years of hoarding.

The 10 rooms in the four-storey house were buried with books, children’s toys, clothes, old newspapers and discarded furniture Photo: Red Williams/Archant

Mehmet Koch, 33, bought the north London town house at an auction without viewing it.

He was confronted with 40 years worth of rubbish hoarded by an elderly couple who owned the Finsbury Park property.

Mr Koch, who bought the Islington house with his brother Abbas, said today: “I thought I was having a nightmare - I have never seen anything like this before.

“We just saw it and thought, how the hell are we going to clean this up? We were just so shocked.

“When we saw it, we just felt sorry for the people who lived here at first. I mean, how could anyone live like this in the 21st century? There was no running water, no electricity and no gas.”

The 10 rooms in the four-storey house were buried with books, children’s toys, clothes, old newspapers and discarded furniture.

^{The outside of the house in Fonthill Road, Finsbury Park, north London (Archant)}

A reclusive couple in their 70s had lived in the house since the 1960s.

Mr Koch said: “We had come to see the property from the outside but the couple who live here would not let us in so we never saw inside.

“They had just been confined to one or two rooms and the garden was a forest. We’re very worried we’re not going to make a profit now because it needs so much work.”

The Kochs’ workers began a clean-up operation by discarding the rubbish into the front garden without arranging for a truck to collect it.

Residents’ anger provoked Islington Council to serve notice on the landlords, which could see them prosecuted if the rubbish is not quickly cleaned up.

Police also had to warn passers-by to act with more respect after several began taking items from the pile.

One neighbour said: “It’s absolutely shameless. It’s stealing from a dead body. She was a lovely old woman and those are still her things.”

Firefighters first raised the alarm with social services over the size of the pensioners’ hoarding problem a year ago.

They acted after they had to go through the property to tackle a blaze.

The woman was working at a local charity shop and was a former teaching assistant at nearby Pooles Park Primary School.

As a result of the fire service alert she is now living in sheltered accommodation in the area with her husband who had become ill, according to neighbours.

Hal Davis, who owns clothes shop Guate Goat opposite the house, today told of the couple’s daily lives.

Mr Davis said: “To get out she would have to move about 15 bags and stick them on the door, step outside and then the husband came out.

“Then the dog came out and she would put all the bags back in. Then when they came back it was the same process.

“I have been watching that almost every day for seven years but just had no idea what the inside of the house looked like.

“It’s a massive revelation to the neighbourhood. This was the first I saw of how bad it was as she never used to open the windows.”

The Koch brothers, who own about 10 premises as part of Kaya Properties, are now planning to turn the house into flats if they gain planning permission.

A council spokesman said: “Islington Council’s Environmental Health Team has served notice on the owner of 54 Fonthill Road requiring them to clear the gardens and secure the property.

“Keeping our borough clean is a priority for Islington Council so we will be closely monitoring this over the coming days and will take further action if required.”

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