A first-time buyer’s world was rocked when she discovered her ‘dream home’ was set to be demolished as part of a £2.2 billion redevelopment.
Dr Fabiola Creed was celebrating with champagne, when a letter was popped through her door, claiming her property was inside a regeneration zone facing the bulldozer. As reported by Birmingham Live, the horrible circumstance has left the , an academic researcher ‘shattered’.
Furious with the situation, Dr Fabiola is now fighting for an investigation into why potential housebuyers are not given prior warning regarding proposals of such magnitude.
Dr Fabiola said: “I wake up with a sense of dread every morning, and it’s always in the back of my mind because I cannot plan ahead. I thought buying a house would give me certainty and roots; this is a nightmare.”
The academic, claims she’d been saving most of her life to put a deposit on a home, and thus, couldn’t wait to settle down with her husband.
She explained: “I started saving when I was just 14 years old, doing a part-time job. I started saving £50 a month, then as I got older and started earning, it was £100, then £200, so really, for 16 years, I have been saving up for my first home. Owning a home meant the world to me because I never had a safe home growing up.
“When I found this dream fixer-upper I was delighted. I was sold by the seller’s stories that the house was a wonderful place to have and raise children.”
Upon moving in, Dr Fabiola and her husband toasted to their new life together, with the intellectual, explaining: “The first day we moved in, my mum helped us, and we were so excited. On our wedding day, we had been given two expensive bottles of champagne, one to toast the first home, and one for our first child, and it all felt perfect. The next morning, everything changed.”
Things quickly unravelled for the couple, who discovered a leaflet from local MP Shabana Mahmood, asking for their opinions on the Ladywood regeneration plans. This prompted the new homeowner to do some investigating, and she quickly discovered her property was inside the development’s ‘red zone’.
She said: “We were devastated. Do we renovate as planned? Do we wait to have children? These were the questions we were asking ourselves.”
Wentworth and Rose Estate Agents, who sold the property, have since claimed: “We regret to learn of Ms. Fabiola’s concerns regarding her recent property purchase, particularly in light of the proposed regeneration plans for Ladywood. At this stage, we understand that the regeneration initiative remains in the proposal phase and has not yet been formally approved.
“We undertake significant efforts to ensure that any material information provided by sellers, which could impact prospective buyers, is appropriately disclosed during the listing process. In this instance, it is unfortunate that the buyer’s appointed representatives did not flag this proposal as part of their due diligence review. We extend our best wishes to Ms. Fabiola as she works towards a satisfactory outcome with her representatives.”
The council and Berkeley Homes are currently in the middle of negotiations, with affected residents, who could lose their homes, being offered settlement terms. They could ultimately be subject to a compulsory purchase order.
Fabiola stresses that she hopes the whole project will be reconsidered, publicly pleading: “Please don’t gentrify this area! They should focus on improving what is already there. Add luxury flats if necessary by building on neglected or abandoned areas of the neighbourhood; create more affordable homes too. But don’t pull down decent homes.”
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