19 April 2023 , 16:57
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A derelict housing estate left to rot with long-gone residents’ belongings still in their old homes has been compared to Chernobyl.
The Maryon Grove estate in Woolwich has 16 four-storey blocks and 172 homes.
However it appears frozen in time as its residents were moved out almost a decade ago to make way for redevelopment plans.
Proposals to build 165 affordable new homes have been pending since 2015, leaving the area in development purgatory.
It was recently visited by an urban explorer who shared his findings on his TikTok account.
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He described the estate's crumbling homes, with people’s possessions strewn around some apartments, to the infamous abandoned housing blocks of Chernobyl which were hastily left by families fleeing the nuclear disaster in 1986.
The TikToker says: "Built in the 1970's, 16 blocks and 172 homes, all left derelict.
“The residents were moved out almost 10 years ago as part of plans to redevelop it.
“A number of flats were badly fire damaged and empty while others still possess the past occupants' belongings and furniture."
An urban explorer visited the south London area (Kleon3/Wikimedia Commons)The video showed a number of empty flats full of furniture, DVDs, books, family photographs and more, MyLondon reported.
Some houses appear to have been vandalised with graffiti while many of the estate's front gardens are covered in mattresses and broken furniture.
According to Greenwich Council, the Maryon Road estate will be the last of three estates to be demolished and replaced - after the Connaught and Morris Walk estates.
People's belongings are still inside the former homes (Kleon3/Wikimedia Commons)The council gave PA Housing formal notice that vacant possession of the Maryon Grove/Road Estate was required, mainly due to the properties' poor conditions.
In its last update on the website dedicated to the Woolwich regeneration project, Greenwich Council said PA Housing had written to all households in the estate to give official notice of intended vacant possession so that the council can carry out the demolition, but the project appears to have stalled since then as there have been no updates on the site since 2021.
The council says it is being developed in consultation with residents and businesses (Royal Greenwich/Youtube)A spokesman for Greenwich Council said: "We are currently putting up hoarding around the site, which has been fully vacated.
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“We plan to demolish the buildings as soon as possible, to minimise the risk of antisocial behaviour and prepare the site for redevelopment.
"Plans for the site will be developed in consultation with local residents and businesses, to ensure we get the best possible scheme for the community.”