I think the builders have hit a snag ...
THE owners had wished for a dramatic transformation of their £700,000 Victorian home.
But they got more than they bargained for – when the end of terrace property collapsed during building work.
In just 30 minutes, their renovation dreams were reduced to rubble when the upper floor of the property crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust and debris.
Pictures taken yesterday show the roof bowing and the walls of the property buckling dangerously before the structure tumbles earthwards in a matter of minutes.
Locals later claimed builders had removed internal walls along with supports in the roof space, apparently leaving the structure critically weakened.
The house in Lewisham, southeast London, was believed to have been bought for £660,000 in January as an investment by Sajdah Haq Williams and her husband Robert.
It was undergoing extensive work by builders and was empty at the time, residents said.
But five months after work began, neighbours were ordered to evacuate their homes after the roof began to sag overnight.
Police cordoned off the area on Tuesday, but minutes after experts arrived to inspect the site the next day the roof and front of the house came crashing down.
Horrified onlookers likened the sound of the collapse to ‘a bomb’ and some described an ear-splitting ‘crunch’. Architect Ted Ashton, who was passing the property on his way to work, said he was told by a woman at the scene that the internal walls of the property had been removed.
The 55-year-old said: ‘You could see the walls were bowing this morning and when I went back it had collapsed in on itself.’
Jimmy, a 32-year-old builder working nearby, blamed the collapse on ‘dodgy builders’ who he said had been removing beams and rafters while the roof was still in place. He said residents heard creaking noises coming from the building just 12 hours before the incident.
He added: ‘There was no sign to say who the builder was. It was definitely dodgy builders – you can’t start taking rafters down before you take the roof off. It’s ridiculous.’
Ken Taylor, 74, who lives opposite, told the London Evening Standard: ‘There was a big crunch and a big cloud of dust, it was like a bomb had gone off.’
‘Like a bomb going off’