The dilapidated £4,000,000 Chelsea mansion overrun by Japanese knotweed jungle

A mummified corpse found in the basement of a £4,000,000 Chelsea mansion has been identified as the home owner has been slammed by the council for failing to deal with his dilapidated property.

Kensington and Chelsea council will make Nicholas Halbritter fix long-running issues at his property in south-west London after protests from residents.

People living on Ifield Road say they have been forced to deal with problems at number 144 for years, which are affecting the value of their own homes.

Concerns about the house date back to 2010, when the body of a man – now identified as a lodger named Frank – was found in the property after neighbours climbed into the overgrown garden.

The discovery was so disturbing that many of the cops who found him vomited after seeing his body.

Now, a total of 46 neighbours signed a petition asking for action, and the council has decided to act – hitting Mr Halbritter with a Section 215 order.

This allows the council to require homeowners to tidy up their land or buildings.

Though Mr Halbritter doesn’t live in the house, he does visit it often, when neighbours say they notice a light on in the home.

Lead petitioner Nik Hoexter said: ‘There’s rampant knotweed, there’s rats, foxes, there’s a mosquito swarm from a leaking mains, which has been going on for two years.

‘The decomposing remains of the last basement resident were removed, the windows to the street are blacked out, and to the rear, vegetation is growing into the house from broken windows. The house is rotting from the inside out.’

Councillor Marie-Therese Rossi said: ‘Surely common sense must prevail. Direct action is needed, and this council must now act in the interest of its long-suffering residents.’

Mr Hoexter called on the council to take stronger action to enter the property and undertake the work itself under Section 219 of the Act.

‘As Marie-Therese has pointed out, there’s no point in trying to correspond with him,’ Mr Hoexter said.

‘You frankly have to do the work and bill him. He otherwise ignores everything.’

Another resident and owner claimed Mr Halbritter ‘slams the door in my face’ whenever she tries to speak with him about the state of his garden.

Mr Halbritter was previously investigated by neighbouring borough Hammersmith and Fulham, under an agreement between the three councils to share resources.

A Section 215 notice was issued, and the owner was prosecuted the following year for failing to comply.

A Kensington and Chelsea council spokesperson said: ‘Following the decision of the Planning Applications Committee, we are proceeding with a Section 215 notice and will progress it in line with the legislation and relevant guidance.

‘The 2016 notice – which was investigated by a Hammersmith & Fulham officer under a bi-borough working arrangement at the time – was considered complied with and the enforcement case was closed.’

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