People could be jailed for up to six months if they enter a Merseyside flat block after it was shut down by the police and council.
Wirral Council's anti-social behaviour team, working with Merseyside Police, have today obtained a full closure order for the Charter House building in Union Street, Wallasey in Wirral. The order was sought after complaints from the local community that people were gaining entry to the derelict building, causing damage, lighting fires and engaging in other forms of criminal or anti-social behaviour.
Complaints about the property from members of the public were received on June 28 and after consulting with the landlord and other groups, council officers decided a full closure order would be required. The order will be in place for three months until November 3, 2022.
READ MORE: Life in the shadow of a derelict tower block boarded up for five years
The order prohibits anyone from entering the property unless they have permission to do so from the council's Anti-Social Behaviour Team. Anyone found to be in the property with no legal entitlement to be there could be arrested and liable for a prison sentence of up to six months, a fine of up to £5,000 – or both.
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.
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.
Earlier this year, the ECHO spoke to local residents, whose lives have been made miserable.
Officers will be writing to residents of Church Street and Union Street to advise them of the closure order and ask them to report any breaches of the conditions of the order that they might see. Thomas Browning, 20, said "it's a nuisance" for those living next to it.
He said: “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.”
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