A derelict tower block laid empty for around five years looms over houses in one part of Wirral.
Charter House is located on land between Church Street and Union Street in Egremont, Wallasey. The high-rise block used to house 42 flats and was owned by Wirral-based housing association Magenta Living, formerly Wirral Partnership Homes (WPH).
But the building became a financial burden to the social housing provider and it faced costs of £123,000 per flat for renovation work. A decision was made to close the building and Magenta sought planning permission to have it demolished in 2016.
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The tower block was then bought by Camco Estates Ltd in 2017. The developers promised a “sensitive” refurbishment “respecting the original design intent, whilst at the same time bringing the building into the 21st century”.
Things appeared to progress in 2018 and developers took into account the lessons learned from the tragic Grenfell Tower fire regarding upgrades to ensure it was safe. Camco Estates had said at the time the development, which was going to offer 42 two-bed apartments, would be finished that year with residents moving in shortly after.
However, after £4m spent on the project, work appeared to stop. According to Companies House - the government's register of companies operating in the UK - Camco Estates Ltd has since gone into liquidation and director Arthur Morgan stepped down in October 2020.
The building has remained empty since, with people living in the shadow of the derelict tower block unsure on what is next in store for it. According to Land Registry documents seen by the ECHO, the building was bought by Octevo Housing Solutions Limited on July 24, 2020, for £1.3m.
However, it appears no plans are currently in place for the building. Wirral Council confirmed there are no active planning applications in relation to Charter House which changed its name to the Union building when bought by Camco Estates Ltd in 2017.
The ECHO went to visit people living in the area this week to see how it is impacting their lives and what they would like to see happen to the building.
'People are scared to put their house on the market'
Family homes line either side of the tower block which sits firmly in the middle. Black and brown fencing panels surround the building which appears to be a way to deter anti-social behaviour.
However, one panel right in front of the high-rise building is missing, showing boarded windows and doors. One resident, who did not want to be named, said people "have no clue what is going on" with tower block.
He said: "There were cameras on the premises until a few months ago and then they got taken away. New boards got put up on the side where the other flats are. We haven’t got a clue what is going on with it.
"It’s been vandalised. I think there has been a door kicked in on the front again. Even if they took the boards down, it doesn’t matter. I was cutting the grass for the last seven years and stopped doing it this year because I was getting fed up with it. We’ve got foxes living there.
“Everyone says it's an eyesore. People are scared to put their house up on the market because we just don’t know what is going on." The resident, who has lived in the area for 24 years, claimed he had contacted multiple authorities over the years, but said "there's nothing anyone can do."
He added: "It’s awful, the people on the close now are starting to put their house up for sale and they get sold quite quickly because they are so cheap because no one wants to live looking at this. I don’t know what anyone can do.”
'It's a nuisance'
Many of the people the ECHO spoke to said residents have had trouble with vandalism of the empty building. Thomas Browning, 20, said "it's a nuisance" for those living next to it.
He told the ECHO : “There’s kids in and out it all the time. They’ve had to board all the windows up now because they keep smashing them. It’s the fence, it came down the other month. It’s just a nuisance.”
Chatting to mum and son Kamila, 43, and Igor Zalewski, 15, who have lived in the area for six years, they told the ECHO it is mainly younger people who target the empty building. Igor said the actual building doesn't "bother" him, but the alleged anti-social behaviour surrounding it does.
Speaking to the ECHO, he said: “The building itself isn’t really in the way, it doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t bother anyone I think. It is just the fact that people, mostly little kids, come round here and jump on our stuff to get into the building.
“They climb on it, make noise, they ruin stuff. Just people making a kind of 'hang out spot' out of it mostly. They come and mess around.
“They are jumping on the walls here. I would prefer if they did do something with it by now. At this point if they finished the construction and changed it into a residential building I wouldn’t mind that.”
Asked about what he wanted for the building, Igor said: “I would rather they just do something about the building or at least make it so the fence isn’t falling over all the time and people going in there.”
When the ECHO asked Merseyside Police about anti-social behaviour and vandalism in the area, they said they had received no recent reports.
'It's an eyesore'
Tracy Whiteside who runs The Heart Of Egremont with a team of volunteers on Guildford Street, just off Union Street, also said the building has been targeted by vandals. She added the community centre which has a café, community shop and helps people in the area with things such as crisis foodbanks and feeding children during school holidays, had also been impacted.
Tracy said: “It’s a nightmare, the kids are wrecking it. They are going in all the time. It’s just a mess but it is an eyesore isn’t it?” She added: “We get it all the time because they throw balls over and knocking everything down and then we have to report it.
"They just break in, trash the things. They have put the boards up and everything. They are all playing football and bouncing balls around and breaking the windows. They think it is funny to break windows. It’s a shame really isn’t it?"
The mum said the community is "brilliant here" and would like to see the tower block being used for as homes. Tracy told the ECHO: “I think it should be made for students or people who haven’t got homes. There are enough people who haven’t got homes."
Another person living nearby said he wouldn't mind if the building was knocked down. He said: “I am just used to it now, I look out the window and it is there. The trees have become a bit wild now. I wouldn’t mind if it was knocked down really and built houses there. That’s what they were going to do originally.”
What happens next?
It is unclear what happens next with the tower block since it was bought in July 2020. There is currently no active planning applications with Wirral Council.
The ECHO contacted Octevo Housing Solutions Ltd for comment.
