This property has gone from a thriving community to a derelict row of empty houses (Photo: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
The gardens are covered with plants, the lilacs are stacked in the streets and the ganellas are lined with tables. On the wall of an abandoned Bengal, in large neon pink letters, is the word “PRIDE!” – A passion that is now unfortunately rare in this field.
This is Highfield Close, in Stretford, on the southern outskirts of Manchester, and it never used to be. With 38 one-bedroom houses in this area built in 1947, for many years this small council estate has been home to a close-knit community of tenants, including Michael Keogh, 81, who has moved into No. 46 Highfield. Date in 1997.
“When I moved, I thought I had real potential,” he said. Or the Manchester Evening News. “Jardim dos Fundos was amazing.”
Former resident Michael Keogh (Photo: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
It was named for the love of trees and field views, and how money was invested in building a courtyard rather than a farm, creating a nice place for outdoor seating.
“It was a legal society,” he said.
About eight years ago, rumors began circulating that the Trafford Housing Trust, which owns two of the residents above, was planning to demolish nearly half the homes. There was no end to the day, or there was a plan to destroy them all.
The foundation claims the floodplain was in a “high-slope” floodplain, and was built in a way that “caused serious water and moisture problems” — claims that some residents dispute. They stated that the plan was to move the tenants and replace the cottages with “new, high-quality homes”.
slogan, the tenants began to move in. However, some steadfastly refused to leave.
Among them was Linda Maudsley (72), who fiercely told the Manchester Evening News in 2022: “He will not throw me into the bloody house, over my dead body.”
“When they heard they decided to demolish it, I started crying,” he said. We are not just a community, we are a family. “We're taking care of two more here.”
Not so, in the end, for Linda Modou C, as well as all her friends. One of the last two who started on June 8 last year was Michael, who found a new place on the corner and is now visiting Highfield Close to check out his old street.
What he discovers now is depressing: the fact that the house he has lived in for 25 years has become a ghost town, marked by vandalism and metal theft. Racist and extremely violent attacks deface some homes.
“First they were ports, then they became pescandos,” he laments, on the exterior of his old taboo house. “It was very bad when they tore down the gates in front of two farms, but only after they were repeatedly looted. The first one is now, it's desolate. “It's very sad.”
The abandoned bungalows have been vandalized and infested with metal thieves (Photo: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
The bungalows are scheduled to be demolished very soon, with a sign on one post indicating that the work should be completed by August 1. But he's still here. Immediately afterwards, a caravan appeared in the street, at the present residence of a man named Corbin, and his puppy.
“It's an insult when there are so many people waiting for housing,” he says, after being excluded from housing next door. “It all goes back to the fact that housing conditions have been privatized – we have privatized everything.”
I've received official notice of clearance, and he's preparing to leave, but it won't take long. “I've turned a corner,” he comments. “With the housing situation the way it is, I don’t know where we expect it to go.”
Caravan in Highveld Close (Photo: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Houses on Highfield Close were mutilated and dismantled (Photo: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
In 2022, Graeme Scott, executive director of development at Trafford Housing Trust, told the MEN that his organization wanted to “continue to deliver high-quality homes that serve future houseparents and help address the housing crisis”.
The fund has since been integrated into L&Q, a social housing developer based in east London. Ben Townsend, L&Q's new business director for the North West, said: “We are still planning to demolish the buildings in accordance with our proposals made above, but unfortunately it has taken longer than we expected to disconnect all public services.
“Once this work is completed, we will submit our plans to insulate the building and demolish the property. We are examining a range of options for the future of the building after demolition and will consult with local residents and interested parties when we have clearer plans.
“We are interested in supporting the continued regeneration of Stretford and working closely with Trafford Council. Tackling the property crisis is key to L&Q, and we intend to create more and better homes that will improve the lives of two residents.
