A couple in Wingate, County Durham, say living next to an empty house since 1982 has been “an absolute nightmare,” citing structural issues and repeated break-ins.
Kathleen and Tom Wilson moved to Station Road in 1970. Their neighbour at the time, a woman in her 50s who had been engaged, never married and became reclusive. Mrs Wilson described the house as a “Miss Havisham figure” with no electricity, lit only by candles.
In 1982, the neighbour was moved into a care home, leaving the property vacant. Since then, the house has become overgrown and unsafe. Mrs Wilson said: “She wasn’t looking after herself, there’s absolutely nothing in the house and there never has been. No electricity or running water or bathroom, there was a stand pipe in the backyard which she drank from and in winter she drank melted snow.”
The property has been put up for auction multiple times over the decades, but no one has refurbished it. It is among 4,182 long-term empty homes recorded in County Durham by the Ministry for Housing and Communities.
Despite repeated assurances of action from Easington Council, Durham County Council, and local MPs, little progress has been made. Letters seen by the BBC from the early 2000s show Easington Council apologising for the lack of action and promising solutions.
Victoria Hall, Durham County Council’s private sector housing manager, said the property has changed hands several times and was last owned by a company that dissolved in 2021, before being transferred to the Crown Estate. She added: “A consultation was carried out in April 2025 with all interested parties, including neighbouring occupants, with a view to returning the property to private ownership and establishing whether any neighbouring residents wished to participate in the purchase. In July 2025 it was agreed that we would sell the property at auction as soon as legally possible.” The council also said it would consider any interim measures it could take.
Over the years, the Wilsons have spent hundreds of pounds on repairs to the neighbouring property as tiles fell from the roof and protective boards came loose. Mr Wilson said teenagers breaking into the house has also been a problem, forcing him to replace window boards that the council refused to repair.
Mrs Wilson said: “It has been an absolute nightmare, it’s unsafe around the back. We are in our late 70s, how many more years are we going to have to live like this?”
