MISERABLE residents living on an unfinished housing estate claim it now resembles a "warzone" after becoming overrun with yobs, drugs, squatters and rats.
Keith Miller, who has lived on the Craylands Estate in Basildon for 27 years, claims the area is "the worst it has ever been", with vacant and unfinished homes becoming a magnet for crime.
Swan Housing committed to a multi-year plan for a £250million regeneration of the Craylands Estate in 2006, with plans to build 1,310 homes.
But the project has been abandoned according to frustrated residents, with parts of the estate becoming anti-social and drug-taking hotspots.
“I know Craylands has always had a bad reputation, but personally we had never had any trouble. We raised four kids and it was a lovely place to live,” Mr Miller, 62, said.
“But because of this debacle that Swan have created it is just impossible to live here now.”
Mr Miller, who lives just six feet away from a row of four vacant homes which have lain empty for almost two years, says his life has become a “misery”.
The boardings around the homes have been kicked down, with squatters, drug users, and youths “running rampant”, Mr Miller says.
Twice in the last month residents have had to call the fire brigade after the homes were set alight.
“It sounds facetious but looking at pictures of the estate you would think it was a warzone. It’s an absolute disaster area,” the father-of-four added.
“We live with the constant breaking of windows, day and night.
"The rubbish is just piling up and we have seen rats, mice and pigeon infestations in the abandoned homes.”
Swan Housing says it is aware of anti-social behaviour in the area and has introduced “robust security” – with guards patrolling the estate.
Correspondence seen by the Echo reveals Swan Housing has told residents the project is on hold due to financial issues.
The document adds the firm is unable to confirm a date for the resumption of construction.
“I don’t care whether they build new houses or not.
"If they just knock them down we can live our lives peacefully in a safe environment,” Mr Miller said.
“They are 16 years into a 10-year project and with no end in sight. It’s an absolute mess.”
A Swan Housing spokesman said: "We aware that there has been some antisocial behaviour around the vacant homes at Craylands which are due to be demolished and regenerated. Earlier this month we introduced additional security to the site to help address these issues while our teams work towards the restart of the demolition works.
"Our team is focused on getting demolition moving forward as quickly as possible and we would like to apologise to the community that this is taking longer than anticipated. We will be writing to residents as soon as we can provide a date for the demolition work to start."
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