Last homeowner on abandoned Birmingham street agrees to sell

The last homeowner on an abandoned street has agreed to sell after living on the empty estate for three years.

Carl Harris, 65, accepted a final offer of £275,000 from Birmingham City Council for his semi-detached home on Gildas Avenue in Kings Norton.

The area has been earmarked for redevelopment since 2007.

The retired bus driver told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was relieved the wrangling was over and that he has to leave by Christmas.

The original offer for the four-bedroom house was for £95,000 which Mr Harris said would cause him to struggle to find a house of a similar size.

He added that even with the increased offer, it would still be difficult.

"It's relief that I can see light at the end of the tunnel," Mr Harris said. "However, this option is the best of a bad lot."

He explained he wanted to continue his fight for his home but worried he would end up out of pocket if his case went to court.

"Costs are mounting up," he said. "It would be brilliant if I won in court, but if I don't win, I've got no house and no money."

Gildas Avenue is the final part of a plan for 1,000 new homes on the former Primrose and Pool Farm Estate, which began in 2007.

Since residents largely left the area Mr Harris has been burgled a number of times. He said on one occasion council workers broke into his property, thinking it was one that had been bought.

The council said it was aware of the incident and had "taken steps to remedy the situation".

A spokesperson confirmed Mr Harris had accepted the authority's latest offer.

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